LIVE UPDATES: Macron Leading in Presidential Election Runoff With 55% to 58% of Vote - Belgian Media

France's Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron won in the second round of the presidential election, according to voting results published by the Interior Ministry after 100% of the ballots were processed.

Macron secured 58.55 percent of the votes in the runoff, while his rival, far-right presidential candidate, leader of the National Rally party Marine Le Pen got 41.45 percent.

The United States congratulates incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron on his re-election and looks forward to further cooperation between the two countries, including in providing support to Ukraine, a representative of the State Department told Sputnik on Monday.

"We congratulate President Macron on his re-election. We look forward to continuing close cooperation on the common priorities and values ​​that hold our long and enduring alliance together, including joint efforts to support the people of Ukraine in confronting Russian aggression," the representative said.

Marine Le Pen, the French presidential candidate and the leader of the right-wing National Rally party, said on Sunday that she is beginning to prepare for parliamentary elections this summer.

"Tonight we are starting an important battle in the parliamentary elections," Le Pen told supporters, adding that she is ready to cooperate with everyone who opposes Macron.

Police have cordoned off the Champ de Mars in Paris ahead of the arrival of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, who will be speaking there after the announcement of the first results of the presidential election runoff, a Sputnik correspondent said.

Incumbent president Emmanuel Macron is leading in the French presidential runoff with about 55-58% of the votes, according to Belgian media reports.

Exit polls reported by LN24 broadcaster show that Marine Le Pen is gaining between 42% and 45%.

Voter turnout in the second round of the French presidential election has reached 63.23% as of 15.00 GMT, the French Interior Ministry said.

Polls opened at 6.00 GMT on Sunday in France, where the final second round of presidential elections is taking place. Emmanuel Macron, the current president, and Marine Le Pen, right-wing National Rally leader, are fighting for the right to lead the country for the next five years.

According to the ministry, this year’s turnout as of 15.00 GMT was lower than in the last two presidential elections at the same time.

"In 2017, the turnout rate at 17:00 [15.00 GMT] for the second round of the presidential election in metropolitan France was 65.30%. In 2012, this rate was 71.96% at the same time," the ministry said.

Both presidential candidates have already cast their vote in the runoff.

The French president is elected for a five-year term directly by the country's citizens aged 18 and over, living in France and abroad. To become a candidate, one must be nominated by at least 500 elected officials. The election is held in two rounds. The first one took place on 10 April. In the first round, Macron received 27.84% of the vote against Le Pen's 23.15%.

"This is one of the lowest results in recent years," analyst Mikael Darmon said.

The French leader, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, voted at a polling station in Le Touquet in the Pas de Calais region, which is in the north of the country where their family estate is.