"The Macron vote will ensure that Madame Le Pen does not win," Hollande added. With just nine days to go before election day, opinion polls show Macron is ahead of his far-right rival – though by a much smaller margin than the 24-point gap in 2017. The latest survey by pollsters Ipsos-Sopra Steria had Macron at 55 percent, 10 points ahead of Le Pen. Other pollsters point to a slightly narrower gap.

During times of economic crisis, immigrants are often the scapegoats of all problems, from crime to unemployment. Far-right parties, in particular, make attacking immigrants the core of their programs. None more so than the Greek Golden Dawn, an unabashed neo-Nazi party, which even goes so far as to enforce its election slogan “Let’s rid this country from the filth” by attacking immigrants in the streets. Anti-immigrant sentiments are rampant throughout Europe, and they are not only reserved for the far right.