Rome, Athens look to Macron to help douse anti-EU fires

A body guard stands near Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, attends a ceremony at a monument in memory of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces in 1915, in Paris, France, April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

ATHENS/ROME (Reuters) - The Italian and Greek governments are counting on France's likely next president Emmanuel Macron to help them see off populist parties that blame European Union-enforced austerity and open immigration policies for economic and social ills.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni both called Macron on Monday to congratulate him after the independent centrist won Sunday's first round of voting in the French election.