Paris — Polling agencies projected that French President Emmanuel Macron comfortably won reelection Sunday in the presidential runoff, offering French voters and the European Union the reassurance of leadership stability in the bloc's only nuclear-armed power as the continent grapples with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

    A second five-year term for Macron, if confirmed by official results expected later Sunday night, would spare France and its allies in Europe and beyond the seismic upheaval of a shift of power in wartime. Macron's rival, far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen, quickly conceded Sunday night.

    Her campaign had pledged to dilute French ties with the 27-nation EU, the NATO military alliance and Germany would, had she won, have shaken Europe's security architecture as the continent deals with its worst conflict since World War II. Le Pen also spoke out against sanctions on Russian energy supplies and faced scrutiny during the election campaign over her previous friendliness with the Kremlin.