French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen traded barbs on Monday as they embarked on a final fortnight of campaigning ahead of a run-off vote shaping up to be a much closer fight than their contest five years ago. Making an aggressive start to the next phase of the campaign, Macron headed to deprived former mining and steel-making areas of northern France that have become a stronghold for Le Pen. Meanwhile, Le Pen traveled to the central Yonne region, which placed her first in Sunday's vote. "Macron and Le Pen have qualified," but that was the easy part, explains Jim Shields, France 24 guest and Professor of French Politics at University of Warwick. "Each now needs to try to build a majority," he adds. "Macron has an easier task than Le Pen to bring together the necessary coalition for a majority, but it's not an easy task."
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