FRANCE: The President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, said yesterday he expects democrats in France to overcome far-right leader Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen's shock challenge for the French presidency.
In a statement, Mr Cox cautioned that "definitive conclusions" on the future of French politics could only be reached after round two of the presidential polls on May 5th and legislative elections in June.
"The future of France will necessarily affect the future of Europe," he said.
But he added: "As regards the second round of the presidential election, I am confident that all democrats in France will rally behind democratic values and stand up against intolerance and xenophobia. After the legislative elections, I have no doubt that France will retain her place in the mainstream of politics of tolerance in Europe, thereby reaffirming Europe's fundamental values and principles."
Meanwhile, the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder said yesterday he deeply regretted the rise of Mr Le Pen.
"It's most regrettable that the far-right has become so strong," Mr Schröder said, adding that democrats in France and throughout Europe must strive to ensure Mr Le Pen did not gain any degree of power in France.
"That must be prevented," Mr Schröeder, who faces a general election in September, told reporters as he arrived for a conference on Africa in Berlin.
Mr Michel Friedman, vice president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, said he was concerned by the developments in France and other European neighbours. "What's going on with Europe that, after Austria and Italy, French voters too give so many votes to a right-wing racist?" he said, in an interview with the Cologne Express.
Mr Edmund Stoiber, Mr Schröder's challenger in the German general election, said the French socialists were largely to blame for not unifying their supporters and allowing Mr Le Pen to beat the French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin. Spain, the current holder of the EU presidency, expressed alarm over the success of Mr Le Pen and warned against racism and xenophobia.
"I am extremely worried by certain stances which might involve a racist or xenophobic element, but I am also worried to a large extent by certain stances which run completely counter to the construction of Europe," the Spanish Foreign Minister, Mr Josep Pique, said.