Europe holds its breath

France appears to be returning to the mainstream ahead of this weekend’s presidential election showdown. That’s good news for Europe, assumi [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( France appears to be returning to the mainstream ahead of this weekend’s presidential election showdown. That’s good news for Europe, assuming the center can hold. Emmanuel Macron’s advantage over his nationalist rival, Marine Le Pen, was as slim as two percentage points after the first round on April 10. Since then, the incumbent has surged, building a double-digit lead going into Sunday’s runoff. Key Reading: - [Macron Is Closing In on Second Term in France as Le Pen Falters]( - [Macron Brushes Off Attacks as Debate Reassures Investors]( - [Why France’s Macron Needs Every Vote to Beat Le Pen]( - [What Traders Are Watching Ahead of French Presidential Election]( What’s changed is that the biggest slice of the 22% of voters who supported left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Melanchon two weeks ago have concluded that Le Pen is their worst option and plan to back Macron to keep her out. The sole televised debate between Macron and Le Pen didn’t help the challenger. Her focus on the soaring cost of living did resonate during the campaign, but not enough to haul in the president once he turned his full attention from Russia’s war in Ukraine to the election. The campaign — a rematch of the 2017 contest — again featured France’s role in the European Union, with Macron portrayed as a bulwark of pro-EU policies against nationalists who would risk pulling the union apart. While Le Pen says she no longer wants to abandon the euro nor favors “Frexit” departure from the EU, she argues for transforming the bloc into a looser alliance of nations, with French and not European law supreme in the country. Without explicitly backing Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa called on voters not to support Le Pen in a joint column published yesterday. They and all Europe will be watching on Sunday to see whether the polls can really be that wrong. — [Alan Katz]( Macron speaks to the media in Paris yesterday. Photographer: Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg Sign up [here]( for the Special Daily Brief: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and click [here]( for this week’s most compelling political images. Global Headlines Cost to rebuild | Ukraine said it would cost $600 billion to repair the [damage]( caused by Russia’s invasion. The U.S. Justice Department is also assisting Ukrainian prosecutors in gathering evidence for possible war crimes. - President Joe Biden said the U.S. is sending Ukraine another $1.3 billion in [arms]( and economic aid, and that he’ll ask Congress to authorize further assistance as Russia steps up its attacks in the country’s east. - Scholz pledged to continue shipping weaponry to Ukraine, though he insisted his aim is to [avoid]( an open conflict between NATO and Russia that could lead to nuclear war. Russian seizure | EU countries [froze]( 35 billion euros of assets in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the first 5 1/2 weeks of the war. France topped the list, having frozen goods and capital worth 23.5 billion euros. - Follow the [latest]( developments with our rolling coverage. It’s been a [painful]( week for traders of China’s stocks, bonds and currency as growing fears about the fallout from the nation’s Covid Zero strategy send markets tumbling. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of big mainland companies is among the worst-performing stock benchmarks globally this week. Biden confidence | Biden said Democrats could pick up two Senate seats in November’s mid-term elections and [admitted]( he’s not doing enough to tell voters about his accomplishments. He said Democrats erred during Barack Obama’s first term by not trumpeting the passage of the Affordable Care Act, allowing Republicans to make major gains in the 2010 midterms. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Scholz the Bold Reverts to Scholz the Smurf: Andreas Kluth]( - [Is Wimbledon’s Ban on Russians a Double Fault?: Therese Raphael]( - [Humans Have Become Dangerously Picky Eaters: Opinion Wrap]( Military deployment | Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa [ordered]( soldiers to the streets of the central town of Rambukkana for three days ahead of the funeral of a protester killed by police earlier this week. Demonstrations have rocked the South Asian nation as its worst economic crisis in decades has sparked calls for the government to resign. - Sri Lankan lawmakers backing the president said they’re willing to [consider]( constitutional changes submitted by his opponents, including clipping his executive powers. Explainers you can use - [Why Mariupol and the Donbas Region Matter to Putin]( - [Will Europe’s ‘Gold Standard’ Clean Up Social Media?]( - [What Florida’s Action Against Disney Means]( Fond farewell | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un [thanked]( outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in for his efforts at rapprochement in an exchange of letters before a hawkish new leader takes power in Seoul. Yoon Suk Yeol, who takes office on May 10, has said he may scrap a military deal reached by Moon and Kim. Kim and Moon the village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, in 2018. Source: /Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps Bloomberg reporters around the world discuss a key political issue in our weekly Twitter Space. This week we focused on China’s Covid Zero policy and what it means for Xi at home, the economy and Beijing’s relationships with the U.S. and others. You can listen [here](. News to Note - Honduras [extradited]( former President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the U.S. where he faces drug-trafficking and weapons charges. - Australia’s opposition Labor Party has to make last-minute changes to its election campaign after leader Anthony Albanese was [diagnosed]( with Covid-19. - Hong Kong is thinking of easing rules on [suspensions]( of flights if they bring in a certain number of Covid cases, amid pressure to loosen one of the world’s strictest pandemic travel regimes. - Two of ex-President Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s former co-defendants accused of misusing donations meant to fund a wall with Mexico pleaded [guilty]( to crimes that could send them to prison for years. And finally ... U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in India under the shadow of “partygate” and found himself in the middle of another controversy when he posed for a photo atop an [excavator]( at a factory of the British construction giant JCB. The image made for poor optics because bulldozers have been in the news as officials in several Indian states used them to destroy homes and businesses of mostly poor Muslims, as punishment for alleged crimes like stone-pelting during clashes with majority Hindu groups. Johnson in Vadodara, India. Photographer: WPA Pool/Getty Images Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022