Macron won the presidential election

French President Emmanuel Macron defeated his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in Sunday's election, according to early projections from four polling agencies.

He secured a second term and averted what many saw as a political earthquake should Le Pen win.

The first projections by Ifop, Elabe, Opinionvai and Ipsos showed that Macron won from 57,2 to 58,2 percent of the vote.

Ahead of the vote, polls showed that Macron could win with 56 percent of the vote.

After the announcement of the results of the exit polls, the celebration of Macron's supporters began in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Macron was among the first to be congratulated by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who said that the European Union needs strong support from France.