Opinion divided over Hollande's presidential victory

Socialist Francois Hollande has defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy to become France's new president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

Opinion was divided on the streets of the French capital on Monday morning with one Parisian not seeing any difference between either candidate."Between Hollande and Sarkozy, for me the two are the same," said Marcel Naze.Safia Benamida, however, was optimistic.

"I am really proud. I am 100% Socialist and I think that Mr Hollande has the broad shoulders to improve France's situation," she said.In Hollande's home town of Tulle, the residents were buoyant.

Hollande promised help for France's downtrodden after years under the Sarkozy, a man many voters saw as too friendly with the rich and blamed for economic troubles.

"We have had enough of this privileged man who loved himself," said 65 year-old Tulle resident Jean-Marc Oggeri.

Hollande inherits an economy that's a driver of the European Union but is deep in debt. He wants more government stimulus, and more government spending in general, despite concerns in the markets that France needs to urgently trim its huge debt.

With 75 percent of the vote counted, official results showed Hollande with 51.1 percent of the vote compared with Sarkozy's 48.9 percent, the Interior Ministry said. The CSA, TNS-Sofres and Ipsos polling agencies all predicted a Hollande win as well.

AP