Socialist Francois Hollande: White House

Francois Hollande Dept: PARIS - On his whirlwind first day since winning the French presidential election, Socialist Francois Hollande was set to embark on a crash course in international politics, with a critical visit to Berlin, an invitation to the White House, and two top summits already on the agenda, according to Winnipeg Free Press. He acknowledged Monday that his office was in a "transition phase" and that he was still preparing for international meetings, but insisted he would stand by his promises and a commuter reads a newspaper which fronts a picture of President-elect Francois Hollande in a Paris subway station Monday May 7, 2012. France handed the presidency Sunday to leftist Hollande, a champion of government stimulus programs who says the state should protect the downtrodden, a victory that could deal a death blow to the drive for austerity that has been the hallmark of Europe in recent years. AP Photo/Peter Dejong The leftist who has pledged to buck Europe's austerity trend and NATO's timetable for Afghanistan has virtually no foreign policy experience, and he will have very little time to catch up before he officially becomes France's new president on May 15 and must defend his policies to skeptical foreign leaders who worked with defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. Related Items Articles Initial coalition government talks in Greece fail, new election looms Other nations welcome Hollande's French victory, Germany vows to continue co-operation (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.