"Marine Le Pen responds in a demagogic manner to an anger that is there because she is feeding on the inefficiency of the political system over 20 years," centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron attacked his far-right rival Le Pen in an interview by France Television on Sunday, as the second and final round of voting of the French presidential election draws closer.

Macron questioned whether Le Pen's "France first" plan would make the country better and safer. "Will we protect our citizens better the day we close our national borders?" He said. "No. We will protect them better if we have a real cooperation with the other member states. If we have more information, we will be protecting them better."

Le Pen argued that she puts the nation's interests before her personal ones. In 2015, she showed her father, National Front party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, the door. "I did it because the higher interest of the country was at stake and therefore for the higher interest of the country," the 48-year-old said, adding that she was "looking forward to" the first televised debate against Macron on Wednesday.

Macron, who leads Le Pen by about 19 percentage points, would become France's youngest president at 39 if elected.

In a recent interview with France's Le Monde, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his support for Macron, saying that "his election could be a real victory for a more global approach to politics."

Macron represents a centrist spirit, which "has echoes in every European country and in the western world in general," Blair stressed.