Before he makes his first post-election public appearance, Emmanuel Macron has been working the phones with the office of the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, announcing that the two men spoke earlier today.

Greece’s leftist leader not only offered his congratulations to Macron but also appeared ultra-confident that the centrist politician would emerge victorious in the second round.

“The prime minister congratulated Mr Macron on the result, wished him the best of luck in the [election’s] second round against the far right, and expressed his confidence that with his election there would be a continuation of the close ties of friendship and cooperation between Greece and France.”

In Greece’s long-running economic crisis, Paris has often rallied to Athens’ defence when the going has got tough with EU power-master Germany.