PARIS, June 11 (Reuters) – French President Francois
Hollande is on track to win a solid parliamentary majority after
a first-round election that leaves him strengthened heading into
a flurry of talks with euro zone leaders that could make or
break the currency union.

Sunday’s vote left Hollande’s Socialist Party bloc likely to
win the 289 seats it needs for an outright majority in the
577-seat National Assembly, and almost certain to do so with its
Greens Party allies on board, polling institutes said.

PARIS, June 10 (Reuters) – French President Francois
Hollande was on track for a Socialist-led majority in parliament
after a solid win in a first-round vote on Sunday that should
free him from having to rely on hard leftists hostile to
European integration.

Hollande’s Socialist bloc looks likely to win the 289 seats
needed for an outright majority in the 577-seat National
Assembly in next Sunday’s run-off, and almost certain to do so
with its Greens Party allies, polling institutes said.

PARIS (Reuters) – When Francois Hollande waded into the euro zone debt crisis after taking office as French president, his push for a new focus on growth over austerity was widely welcomed, except perhaps in Berlin.

Two weeks later, ballooning bank woes in Spain and political turmoil in Greece have taken the debate to a new level that has left Hollande in deeper water than he imagined and will test his political and diplomatic skills to the full.

PARIS (Reuters) – The presidency under its belt, France’s Socialist Party is set to beat the conservative UMP in June parliamentary elections but may fall short of a majority strong enough to give President Francois Hollande a completely free hand to pass legislation.

Internal divisions in the UMP since Nicolas Sarkozy lost the presidency this month are compounding the likelihood of it losing its majority in the National Assembly (lower house), nine months after it lost the Senate (upper house) to the left.

PARIS (Reuters) – Socialist President Francois Hollande has defied critics who considered him an inexperienced lightweight by starting with a burst of globetrotting activity and standing up to Berlin and Washington on euro and foreign policy.

Placid and slow-paced by nature, Hollande has packed in visits to Berlin, Washington, Camp David, Chicago, Brussels and Kabul in his first 10 days in office, a timetable worthy of his hyperactive conservative predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy.

PARIS (Reuters) – At his first meeting of EU leaders, with the hotly contested issue of shared euro-zone debt top of his discussion list, France’s new president made it clear on Wednesday that he intends to stand up to Berlin on European policy.

As Francois Hollande arrived for the summit in Brussels, the Socialist leader told reporters that euro bonds would be up for discussion. Moments later, Chancellor Angela Merkel stepped out of her limousine and said curtly that she did not think such bonds were a good idea or would help to boost growth.

PARIS (Reuters) – Francois Hollande was greeted by a thunderstorm in Paris and storm clouds gathering over the euro zone as France’s first Socialist president in 17 years was sworn in on Tuesday before flying to Berlin to plead his case for less austerity in Europe.

Hollande’s first day in power was marred by a downpour as he rode by open-top car through Paris to mark his investiture, and lightning that hit his presidential jet, forcing him to make a U-turn en route to Germany and switch to a smaller Falcon jet.

PARIS (Reuters) – Francois Hollande was greeted by a thunderstorm in Paris and storm clouds gathering over the euro zone as France’s first Socialist president in 17 years was sworn in on Tuesday before flying to Berlin to plead his case for less austerity in Europe.

Hollande’s first day in power was marred by a downpour as he rode by open-top car through Paris to mark his investiture, and lightning that hit his presidential jet, forcing him to make a U-turn en route to Germany and switch to a smaller Falcon jet.

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande gave his predecessor a terse send-off on Tuesday, omitting to wave Nicolas Sarkozy off from the steps of the Elysee palace and giving him only a cursory mention in his inaugural speech.

After a bruising election battle, Sarkozy was gracious in defeat, dropping all invective when he conceded within minutes of the May 6 result and inviting Hollande to accompany him at a ceremony two days later to commemorate the end of World War Two.

PARIS (Reuters) – Francois Hollande was sworn in as France’s first Socialist president in 17 years in a brief ceremony on Tuesday before a dash to Berlin to challenge German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s austerity prescription for Europe.

In his inaugural speech to some 400 guests, Hollande said he would seek to amend a European pact to add growth-boosting measures to deficit-cutting policies that critics say are dampening the bloc’s growth prospects.