Francois Hollande
Francois Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande; born 12 August 1954) is the President of the French Republic and Co-Prince of Andorra, having been elected to the position in 2012. Hollande was previously the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008, the mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008, and the President of the Corrèze General Council from 2008 to 2012. Hollande also served in the National Assembly of France twice for the department of Corrèze's 1st Constituency...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth12 August 1954
CityRouen, France
CountryFrance
Europe needs an engine, and the Franco-German motor has provided that when the two nations have converged on important topics during critical periods. But that partnership shouldn't be a directorate for other EU members.
France is the bridge between northern Europe and southern Europe. I refuse any division. If Europe has been reunified, it's not for it to then fall into egotism or 'each for one's own'. Our duty is to set common rules around the principles of responsibility and solidarity.
Before you, I engage myself to serve my country with the devotion and the exemplary that this post demands. I understand responsibilities of the job and, as such, I give a republican salute to Nicolas Sarkozy who has led France for 5 years and who deserves all of our respect.
France, after the month of May, will share trust with the current leadership of the United States which, on many subjects, has tended to take useful positions in our view.
We are a big country, with lots of advantages and history. We are proud to be French. We have to call on patriotism at this time... to ask for an effort in the battle against debt.
What the French want is coherence, stability and justice. If I am in a favorable position today, it's because my fellow citizens want to make the effort to straighten out the country, and at the same time they want it to be just and equitable.
There is just one France... one single nation, united in the same destiny.
There's always a risk when the candidate becomes president: Will he deliver what is expected of him?
When I took part in European leaders summits, it was sometimes unpleasant for me to hear Romanian, Polish, Portuguese, and Italian friends speak English, although I admit that on an informal basis, first contacts can be made in this language. Nevertheless, I will defend everywhere the use of the French language.
I want the French people to respect values that allow each individual to practice his or her faith, but in the frame of our common rules of secularism.
I have given myself one objective, to be the long-awaited successor to Francois Mitterrand.
France isn't just any country in Europe, and its president is not an ordinary leader in the world. Sometimes directing or leading the way is not enough, he has to initiate policies, as Nicolas Sarkozy was able to demonstrate during his term.
What is happening in the Sahel for the past several months is that terrorists have structured themselves, have installed themselves. It's not simply a menace for west Africa.
The United Nations will be at the heart of our international activities. France will assume its full responsibilities at the Security Council by putting its status at the service of peace, respect for human rights and development.