Much was made during the French election that Nicolas Sarkozy is an outspoken admirer of the United States. But most of his foreign policy intentions remain largely unknown. Sarkozy is clearly a strong personality, and his successful campaign for the French presidency has left little doubt about the scale of reforms he plans to make in French society.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the candidate of UMP, collects 53,2 percent of the voices against 46,8 percent for Ségolène Royal with the second turn of the presidential election. This is an election in France, which beats a new record of participation with 84,9%. Nicolas Sarkozy becomes at 52 years the sixth president of the 5th French Republic.

French voters turned out in droves for an election run-off in which conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has been widely expected to defeat Socialist Segolene Royal in her bid to become France's first woman President.

French voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new president to succeed Jacques Chirac. The two contenders are center-right Nicholas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at whether U.S.-French relations will change with a new president at the Elysee Palace.

French citizens in the country's overseas territories have begun casting ballots in a presidential runoff election to determine who will succeed President Jacques Chirac. Saturday's early voting comes a day before voters in mainland France cast their ballots for either conservative Nicolas Sarkozy or Socialist Segolene Royal.

French voters go to the polls on Sunday (May 6th) to elect a new president. They face a stark choice between a conservative, former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, and the Socialist Party's candidate, Segolene Royal, who is bidding to become the country's first female president. France's sluggish economy and the plight of the country's inner cities have dominated the campaign.

Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that if he is elected this week, he will urge Europe to pay attention on Vladimir Putin's abuse in Chechnya. "Either we defend universal values of human rights, and that counts for the Chechens just as it counts for the French, or we don't defend them," Sarkozy said on Europe-1 radio.

Socialist Segolene Royal does her best to save her presidency campaign before Sunday runoff. She warned Friday that if Sarkozy wins the race, there will be violence in France. With final polls saying Sarkozy has increased his lead, Royal has sought to portray him as too unstable and too brutal to lead France.

The recent debate between Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy, the two candidates of coming presidential run-off in France, seemed to be at least heated. Ms Royal was expressing her ideas in a quite aggressive way unlike her opponent, Mr Sarkozy who was trying to remain as calm as possible with respectful attitude towards her.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, far-right leader, urged his supporters not to take part in voting in France's presidential runoff Sunday between conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal.

French opinion polls suggest Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal is making minor inroads against her center-right rival Nicolas Sarkozy. The latest polls show Royal trailing Sarkozy 48-52, closing the margin as the two prepare for a key televised debate Wednesday, and Sunday's second round of elections.