French President Emmanuel Macron. File photoPARIS, Apr 20 French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron accused his runoff rival Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, of being dependent on Russian authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin «You were the first European politician to recognize the results of the annexation of Crimea in 2014… This is bad news for our country. You depend on the Russian government, you depend on Mr. Putin,» Macron said during a televised debate with Le Pen. 
Macron could win 54.5 percent of the vote in the second round, the poll showed, he also accused her of taking a loan from a Russian bank in 2017. «I did it because not a single French bank wanted to give me a loan,» Le Pen answered him. The first round of the presidential elections in France took place on April 10. According to the final data of the French Ministry of the Interior, Macron won 27.84% of the vote, Le Pen — 23.15%. The second round will take place on April 24. Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following a referendum after the coup in Ukraine. In the referendum, 96.77% of voters in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol voted for joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its own, but temporarily occupied territory, many Western countries support Kyiv in this. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea democratically, in full accordance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with Russia. According to President Vladimir Putin, the issue of Crimea is «finally closed».
