Macron seen winning but Le Pen gains

Earlier on Friday, Trump had tweeted about the attack’s potential impact on the vote, writing: “Another terrorist attack in Paris”.

France has already imposed a state of emergency to empower police after the Paris attacks in November 2015, which killed 130 people.

The first round of the French presidential election takes place today in what will be the most unpredictable – and most pivotal – election in Europe this year.

The socialist politician created the new political movement Le France Insoumise after first creating the Left Party in 2008 and is also a former member of the Socialist Party.

After the shooting, Le Pen reiterated her calls for border controls and a crackdown on radical Islam – platform issues that have drawn comparisons to Trump’s campaign.

Both hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and far-right wing Nationalist Front candidate Marine Le Pen have called for France to leave the European Union.

According to pollsters, Le Pen, an anti-European Union candidate, is expected to reach the second round but ultimately lose to Emmanuel Macron.

He added Thursday’s terror attack in Paris, in which a police officer was shot dead on the Champs Elysees, would “probably help” Le Pen at the polls.

The terror attack came at the very time the 11 presidential candidates were speaking in a televised debate to millions of listeners.

The candidates learned about the attack on air, and adjusted their closing remarks accordingly.

But Marine Le Pen fell out with him, expelled him from the party he had founded, toned down the rhetoric a bit and now has a strong appeal among French voters. Surveys showed that the French have been more concerned until now about jobs and the economy than terrorism.

If no one gets more than 50 percent in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes will then go to a runoff two weeks later.

She says many families think they will have to leave France if Le Pen comes to power.

“No one is able to say who will be the victor as many things could happen at last minutes”, he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Le Pen and Fillon cancelled their last campaign events on Friday over security concerns.

The election in France is not a crisis, but a normal process and an “opportunity for democracy”, the EU Commission spokeswoman explained. “Our challenge is to protect the French, not to give up who we are, to stay unified and build a future”. On Friday, French prosecutors announced Cheurfi had four prior criminal convictions for crimes including attempted murder.

A serial offender, he spent almost 14 years in prison for a range of crimes including attacks on the police. Two others were wounded in what François Hollande said was a “cowardly killing” by man known to authorities and suspected of Islamic extremism.