It is still unclear what the French electorate really wants or if François Hollande will become the statesman he convinced the majority of voters he could be.

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Francois Hollande’s victory over Nicolas Sarkozy and the losses by Greece’s main political parties are latest examples of growing anti-austerity backlash in Europe, which is as much political as it is economic.

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There are three takeaways from the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday.

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BERLIN/MUMBAI–The announcement last week that India was entering into exclusive negotiations with Dassault for its Rafale fighter jet represents a major coup for the French defense contractor and for Nicolas Sarkozy. The embattled French president was evidently relieved by the prospect of the Rafale’s first ever foreign sale in a deal worth over US$10 billion, [...]

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PARIS–President Barack Obama’s announcement last June of an accelerated U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan reopened debates in many European countries over when their soldiers should return from that unpopular war. French President Nicolas Sarkozy followed a few days later with an announcement that French troops would be reduced “in a proportional manner and in a calendar [...]

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BRUSSELS—Yes, “Europe will be the focus of the Cannes Summit.” Although anticipated, the blunt statement from European Commission President Barroso and European Council President Van Rompuy seemed both redundant and inspiring. Redundant, because a €1 trillion commitment needs implementation and global coordination that only the G20 can offer. Inspiring, because this crisis serves as the [...]

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Deauville, the beach resort in Normandy where Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and Dmitri Medvedev met earlier this week, has seen better days. So—perhaps not coincidentally—have France, Germany, and Russia. Indeed, Deauville’s glory as the acme of summer holiday elegance for Europe’s elites lasted for much of the 19th century, when Prussia, France, [...]

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BERLIN — Rarely has an EU summit been as turbulent as the one on September 16. Viviane Reding, the EU’s justice commissioner, charged France with mass deportations of Roma, violating EU law by, according to a leaked French government document, specifically targeting this group. A fierce dispute ensued between Reding, backed by European Commission president [...]

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The 2010 German World Cup team was a force to be reckoned with – a physically strong, methodical, and dangerous team whose leading goal scorer, Polish-born Miroslav Klose, fell just one goal short of tying the all-time record of individual World Cup goals. The team’s prowess was enhanced by the footwork and speed of one [...]

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WASHINGTON — “Bush was right” is not a view frequently expressed in the New York Times.   But, there it was, in Thomas Friedman’s March 10 column:   “Former President George W. Bush’s gut instinct that this region craved and needed democracy was always right.” Friedman was referring to the elections that took place this [...]

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