France's Macron announces bid for presidential re-election

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron officially announced on Thursday that he would run for a second term in office in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for April.

In a letter addressed to the French people, Macron described the different reforms of the government and the challenges faced by the country. "All of this has allowed us to be credible and to convince our main neighbors to start building a powerful Europe."

"This is why I request your trust for a new term as President of the Republic. I am a candidate to invent with you, in the face of the challenges of the century, a singular French and European response," he wrote.

Speaking of his goals for a possible second term, Macron said that he would try to make France "become a great ecological nation that will be the first to exit its dependence on gas, petroleum and coal."

He also promised to continue to lower taxes.

Macron won France's presidential election runoff in 2017, beating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.