Italian PM, Emmanuel Macron Agree to Jointly Work for Benefit of Europe

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron agreed to jointly work toward European prosperity on Monday, the Italian government press service said.

ROME (Sputnik) — Gentiloni held a telephone conversation on Monday with Macron following his win in first round of the election, and both parities agreed to jointly work toward European prosperity.

The Italian prime minister expressed satisfaction with the results of the first round of the presidential election in France, and the sides agreed to work together "in order to put Europe on top of economic challenges and social demands of citizens," the press service said.

On Sunday, Macron and leader of far-right National Front (FN) party Marine Le Pen emerged as the two top contenders in the first round of the election, set to face each other in the run-off on May 7.

According to the French Interior Ministry, Macron won the first round with 24.01 percent of the vote, while Le Pen came in second with 21.3 percent of the vote.