The centre-left leaders of Germany, Spain and Portugal urged French voters to re-elect President Emmanuel Macron for another five years when they go to the polls for Sunday's run-off.
Macron, a centrist, is seen as the clear favourite in the contest that pits him against far-right challenger and eurosceptic Marine Le Pen, who has kept close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a joint column published in several newspapers on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa tried to draw a line between Le Pen's ideology and Putin.
They said the election in France - a country that helps set the European Union's policy agenda - was "critical" for the rest of Europe.
Europa o la extrema derecha.
El domingo Francia se enfrenta a una elección crítica para toda la ciudadanía europea.
Hoy escribo junto a @antoniocostapm y @OlafScholz:https://t.co/otLLPsW2Gg— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 21, 2022
The French are making a choice between an incumbent who values the "democracy, sovereignty, freedom and the rule of law" and a nationalist who sides with autocratic leaders like Putin, they wrote.
Europe's darkest times
The attack on Ukraine ordered by Putin has awakened "memories of Europe's darkest times," the column said.
"That is why the second round of the French presidential election cannot be an ordinary election for us. The choice facing the French people is critical, for France and for each and every one of us in Europe," they wrote.
"It is the choice between a democratic candidate, who believes that France's strength will expand in a powerful and autonomous EU, and an extreme-right candidate, who openly sides with those who attack our freedom and our democracy, values based on the French ideas of the Enlightenment."
