PARIS (Reuters), Emmanuel Macron, French President denied Wednesday any political agreement was reached with Nicolas Sarkozy. He endorsed Macron in advance of the second round of presidential elections on April 24, according to Reuters.

French media reported that Macron, who would need to win a new majority in legislative elections this year after the presidential election, received Sarkozy’s support after he offered political influence.

Macron stated to France 2 television: “There wasn’t an agreement.” This was just a day following Sarkozy’s endorsement. Macron will be up against Marine Le Pen in a close race.

Sarkozy’s endorsement of Macron will attract those who backed Valerie Pecresse, the conservative candidate in the first round. However it may also discourage left-wing voters from voting for Macron as they will consider it confirmation that Macron is just as right-winged as Sarkozy.

Sarkozy (67) is France’s oldest conservative president. He is considered an influential figure within the center-right Les Republicains party.

But, Les Republicains is at risk of extinction after Le Pen and Macron backed them in Sunday’s first round.

Macron stated on Wednesday, too that he was open to forging political alliances to help France continue its reforms.

Macron declared that Macron would need to win a majority to fix the country’s fractures. He also needed to gather support for reforms from those who didn’t agree with his views, but were willing to collaborate on them.

“I’m talking not about coalitions,” said he, adding that these cross-party arrangements are not appropriate for France’s presidential system.

French elections Take-A Look