Ex-French President Hollande backs Macron in presidential race

Former French Socialist President Francois Hollande on Thursday called on voters to back Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the country's presidential election on April 24.

"I am a former president and I know that in an election of that importance, what is key is France, its cohesion, its European future and its independence. This is why I call on the French to vote for Emmanuel Macron," Hollande told TF1 television.

"The Macron vote will ensure that Madame Le Pen does not win," he added.

Just 10 days ahead of a runoff election that will determine who will lead the European Union's second-largest economy for the next five years, opinion polls show centrist President Emmanuel Macron is slightly ahead of far-right rival Marine Le Pen. In 2016 Hollande, faced with very low ratings, decided not to seek re-election.

Relations between Hollande and Macron, his former economy minister, who quit the Socialist government to run for office in the 2017 presidential election on his own centrist platform have not always been smooth.