Rfi.
For those who wondered during the campaign whether François Hollande was just talking tough in the hope of winning votes, his victory speech last night made things crystal clear.
“Europe is watching us”, he said, declaring that the French vote would give hope to other countries that “austerity is not the only way”. And he went on to say that he would shortly be heading for Berlin to give Mrs Merkel that message in person – it will be his first trip.
London markets are closed as it’s a public holiday but French stocks opened sharply down, although traders said they were more concerned about the turmoil in Greece.