The Role of Immigration Issues in French Presidential Campaign in 2017

Abstract

The French presidential elections in 2017 brought a “predictable surprise” – Emmanuel Macron’s win changed the French political scene. The campaign itself was different, to. All the important candidates were defined as anti-establishment. This characteristic – in comparison with the experience of classical distinctions between right and left in previous campaigns – was something new. The aim of the article is to state whether migration issues were somehow decisive for the campaign result. In this context, it is worth asking other questions. Was the political debate around immigration during the electoral period different than in campaign 2012? How, in the new international context (the refugee crisis, numerous terrorist attacks, ideological divisions in European Union, Donald Trump’s win in the United States, the increase in nationalist and populist attitudes in Central and Eastern Europe) were questions about migrants’ presence and their integration into the Republic formulated? Finally, what description is appropriate for the election result – the victory of Macron or the failure of Le Pen? This text is based on an analysis of the candidates’ programmes as well as public discourse concerning the elections.