Nigel Farage has warned Emmanuel Macron that the French are “as Eurosceptic as Brits” were in 2016, after latest figures show a surge in popularity for rival presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.
While the current president is a clear favourite for re-election, after the first round of voting this weekend, polling reveals the gap between him and populist Ms Le Pen has dramatically narrowed.
It is predicted the two will go head to head in the second round of the election on 24 April.
Speaking on GB News' To The Point, Mr Farage said: "This vote will be about the European Union as much as it’s about French culture.
Nigel Farage speaking on GB News' To The Point
GB News
"Macron is a true believer in the European dream, he loves it, he wants the United States of Europe.
Emmanuel Macron
VINCENT WEST
"Marine is very eurosceptic, not a withdrawalist anymore, and a lot of Jean-Luc Mélenchon voters are Eurosceptics."
According to projections, Mr Mélenchon, leader of France's left, is going to finish third behind Ms Le Pen.
The former Brexit Party leader continued: "When I go around France…I find that French people are as Eurosceptic as the Brits were in the run up to 2016, so it’s going to be really interesting."
He added: "France is in a very unhappy place at the moment, it reminds me of the UK back in the 1970s.
"People aren’t happy, people are angry, there is a feeling that Paris has become pretty much a foreign country and that’s an even a greater split in our country that with the Brexit vote in 2016."
Mr Macron is on course to defeat Ms Le Pen and stay in the Elysee by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin, according to a new poll by Ifop institute for the French television channel, TF1.
French election candidate Marine Le Pen
Charles Platiau
But as the gap was within the margin of error, when French voters go to the polls for a second time, the final result is uncertain.
Mr Farage said "it's all to play for" and that everything will hinge on the head-to-head debate of the two candidates taking place on 20 April.
The close poll results come after an aggressive few weeks of campaigning from Ms Le Pen, while Mr Macron has been accused of “barely bothering to campaign” by The Times.
Mr Macron's campaign most recently hit a speed bump when he was accused of “negotiating with Hitler” while attempting to convince Vladimir Putin to end his war.
The scathing comments come from Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who slammed his French counterpart for engaging with The Kremlin and failing to take decisive action against the Russian leader.
Mr Morawiecki said: "What have you achieved? Have you stopped any of the actions that have taken place?
“Criminals are not negotiated with, criminals must be fought. Nobody negotiated with Hitler."
A Le Pen presidency is predicted to have a dramatic impact on global affairs, as she has vowed to pull France out of NATO once elected.
She said during a meeting with her constituents in the northern city of Reims: “We must defend our interests freely and get out of the logic of military alliances … Therefore, we will get out of the unified NATO command, so as not to allow us to be dragged again into useless conflicts.”
