Nicolas Sarkozy, elected president ten days ago, is being inaugurated at the Elysee Palace in Paris for a five-year term. Before the inauguration, Sarkozy, 52, met with his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who served as the French president for 12 years, in a private room in the palace and received the country's nuclear codes from him.

European leaders congratulated Nicolas Sarkozy on his victory in France's presidential election and hoped his triumph would help unblock reforms stalled by the rejection of the EU constitution in 2005.

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.

France has began voting in a presidential run-off ballot pitting the right-wing son of an Hungarian immigrant Nicolas Sarkozy against a Socialist Segolene Royal bidding to become France's first woman president.

France's presidential election finalists are to debate Wednesday, in a two-hour, televised event ahead of this Sunday's vote. The latest opinion poll shows Sarkozy maintaining at least a four percentage point lead over Royal.