“The second five-year term for the 44-year-old centrist spared France and Europe from the seismic upheaval of having firebrand populist Marine Le Pen at the helm, Macron’s presidential runoff challenger who quickly conceded defeat but still scored her best-ever electoral showing.” French voters once again turned back the rise of authoritarianism in Europe. Hopefully American voters will take the cue. To Europe’s relief, France’s Macron wins but far-right gains.

+ Opposition wins Slovenia vote, defeating right-wing populist. These results are one more area where it seems Putin’s invasion has backfired politically.

+ “Macron’s decisive victory notwithstanding, Le Pen is not walking away empty-handed. In a little more than a decade, she has succeeded in transforming her party, the National Rally (formerly the National Front), from a toxic fringe group to one of the most significant players in French politics. She has advanced to the presidential runoff twice, but perhaps most significant of all, she has normalized her far-right politics on Islam and immigration and has forced her mainstream opponents—Macron among them—to engage with, and in some cases even appropriate, her views.” The Atlantic: Macron Won. And So Did the Far Right. (True. But it’s OK to be elated at a win by a very wide margin in a race that could have dealt a heavy blow to democracy.)