Hollande changes plane after lightning strike

AFP photo

A presidential jet carrying newly inaugurated French President Francois Hollande was hit by lightning en route to Berlin and forced to turn back to Paris, but the Socialist was unharmed and took off again in another plane, a presidential source said.

Hollande, who was sworn in as president on Tuesday morning, was expected to arrive with a delay of one and a half hours for his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after he set off in the second aircraft. (PARIS - Reuters)

New French leader Hollande to meet Merkel in Berlin May 15

Newly elected French President Francois Hollande. REUTERS Photo

France's new leader Francois Hollande will fly to Berlin within hours of his swearing-in ceremony on May 15 for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Several French official sources confirmed Tuesday's planned talks, which were to include a press conference and a working dinner and were expected to focus on the eurozone debt crisis.

Hollande is to formally become president of France on Tuesday, replacing Merkel's defeated French ally Nicolas Sarkozy, and had previously promised that his first visit would be to Berlin.

France and Germany -- Europe's biggest economies -- have traditionally been seen as close allies and the motor of European unification.

But ties have come under strain during the debt crisis, with Sarkozy at first pushing for Germany to allow greater burden-sharing within the eurozone, before backing down and tacitly accepting Merkel's leadership.

Hollande campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate the eurozone's fiscal pact, which binds member states to austerity measures, and which Merkel argues is essential to underpin the continent's eventual recovery.

Both the German and French leaders have made conciliatory noises since Hollande's election on Sunday, but the meeting is expected to be tense, with Berlin already insisting the pact can not be re-opened.

But observers expect that some kind of compromise can be found, perhaps through a parallel treaty or annex to the pact that would include measures to favour growth alongside the previous deficit-cutting.

Even here, however, divisions would remain, with Hollande favouring joint EU investment in major projects, and Merkel calling for structural adjustments to -- in particular -- labour markets and pensions. (PARIS - Agence France-Presse)

Francois Hollande wins French presidency

AP photo

Socialist Francois Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy today to become France's next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

Sarkozy conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, saying he had called Hollande to wish him "good luck" as the country's new leader.

Exuberant crowds filled the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution, to celebrate Hollande's victory. He will be France's first leftist chief of state since Francois Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995.

Sarkozy thanked his supporters and said he did his best to win a second term, despite widespread anger at his handling of the economy.

"I take responsibility ... for the defeat," he said.

Hollande's former partner and mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, said she has a "feeling of profound joy to see millions and millions of French renew the tie to the left." "The French can be confident," she said on France-2 television. "We will need everyone to help the country recover." Royal faced off Sarkozy in the 2007 election.

Partial official results, with about half of the nationwide votes counted, showed Hollande with 50.8 percent compared to 49.2 percent for Sarkozy. The CSA, TNS-Sofres and Ipsos polling agencies predicted that Hollande will win with 51.8 percent to 53 percent, compared with 47 percent to 48.2 percent for Sarkozy. They made projections based on the vote count at select voting stations around the country.

Hollande wants to renegotiate a hard-won European treaty on budget cuts that Germany's Angela Merkel and Sarkozy had championed. He wants more government stimulus, and more government spending in general despite concerns from markets that France needs to urgently trim its huge debts.

The election outcome could also have an impact on how long French troops stay in Afghanistan and how France exercises its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.
(PARIS - The Associated Press)

Hollande 'wins French presidency' NEW

Mr Hollande capitalised on Mr Sarkozy's unpopularity

Socialist Francois Hollande has been elected as France's new president, early estimates say.

He got about 52% of votes in Sunday's run-off, according to projections based on partial results, against 48% for centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Hollande would be the first French socialist president since 1995.

Analysts say the vote has wide implications for the whole eurozone. Mr Hollande has vowed to rework a deal on government debt in member countries.

The estimates were carried by French media after all polling stations closed at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

Exuberant Hollande supporters have already converged on Place de la Bastille in Paris - a traditional rallying point of the Left - to celebrate.

Mr Hollande capitalised on France's economic woes and President Sarkozy's unpopularity.

The socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year.

He also wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.

Mr Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, had promised to reduce France's large budget deficit through budget cuts.

It is only the second time an incumbent president fails to win re-election since the start of France Fifth Republic in 1958.

The last was Valery Giscard d'Estaing - he was beaten in 1981 by socialist Francois Mitterrand, who had two terms in office until 1995.

The new president is expected to be inaugurated later this month.

A parliamentary election is due in June.

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