France: rivals claim foul play as Macron waits to declare presidential candidacy
Emmanuel Macron hasn't officially declared that he's a candidate for April's presidential election yet.
Yet, he has a full campaign team that's fanning out around France, meeting with voters, and he is making speeches about his plans for the country in the upcoming years.
Less than two months before the first round, Macron's intention is no mystery.
He said last month that he has "the desire" to run for a second term, but he wanted to wait for the COVID-19 situation to improve before making a decision.
The deadline to formally declare candidacy is 4 March, while the first round of elections is scheduled for 10 April.
Critics say he's unfairly using his taxpayer-funded presidential pulpit to campaign for a second term while dragging out his widely expected announcement as long as possible.
"Is Emmanuel Macron using the health crisis to start campaigning? The answer is yes," Marine Le Pen, one of the far-right candidates, charged.
Like the US and most European countries, France recently started easing most COVID-19 restrictions as the spread of the virus is slowing down.
Macron also explained he wanted to focus on the Ukraine-Russia crisis first. On the flight between Moscow and Kyiv last week, he told reporters that he will "think about" declaring his candidacy later. "Everything comes in due time," he said.
Yet his recent trips across French regions tend to increasingly look like campaign events.
A visit this month to northern France, during which he announced an additional 100 million euros to boost the economy in a former mining area, was followed by dozens of journalists from national and international media, eager to see whether he would adopt a campaigning tone.
A meeting with local officials included a key political rival
Read more on euronews.com
