Germany’s centre-right chancellor Angela Merkel will go into Sunday’s elections with strong support from French voters, outstripping the lowly ratings of socialist President François Hollande, an opinion poll has shown, reports The Financial Times.
Asked who they would want to see win the election if they were German, 56 per cent of those polled backed Ms Merkel, with a similar number saying her re-election was in the interest of France.
A bigger majority – 64 per cent – expressed a positive opinion of the chancellor, the OpinionWay poll for Le Figaro newspaper showed.
The findings were in line with previous polls and highlighted a widespread acknowledgment in France that it has been outperformed by its neighbour across the Rhine in recent years, where unemployment is lower, exports stronger and the public finances in better shape.
The poll showed 84 per cent of French have a positive opinion of Germany and 63 per cent think France should follow the German economic model – despite the hesitancy of both Mr Hollande and proceeding centre-right governments in Paris to follow the bold labour market reforms undertaken in Germany a decade ago that laid the foundations for the country’s current economic prowess.
Read more of this report from The Financial Times.