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Hollande to Head for Berlin After Inauguration

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France’s new President Francois Hollande will head for Berlin later on Tuesday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel immediately after his inauguration as the Fifth Republic's seventh president.

France’s new President Francois Hollande will head for Berlin later on Tuesday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel immediately after his inauguration as the Fifth Republic's seventh president.

Hollande, France’s first Socialist president since 1995, faces the challenge of trying to persuade Merkel to move to a more growth-centered strategy for the Eurozone and away from austerity.

The issue of the Eurozone has assumed greater urgency this week after stock markets again plunged after Greek politicians failed to form a coalition government following elections in which the two main ruling parties lost heavily.

Following his inauguration at 10:00 a.m. local time [08:00 GMT], Hollande set out for the traditional open-topped car ride down Paris’ Avenue de Champs-Elysees, and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.

Supporters of outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy turned up at the Elysee Palace to wave goodbye.

After his first lunch as president, Hollande will appoint a prime minister. French left daily Liberation says this is likely to be Jean-Marc Ayrault, a close Party Socialiste ally, and also a German-speaker.

Michel Sapin, an economic adviser, is tipped by the French media to get the finance minister job.

The talks between the German and French leaders are likely to be difficult. Merkel openly supported Sarkozy in the French election, and is insisting that Greece and other flailing Eurozone states maintain the austerity measures necessary to balance their budgets.

Hollande wants more growth-oriented policies, as figures released on Tuesday showed the French economy failed to grow in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter, and was up just 0.3 percent on the previous year.

“We don’t think the same on everything,” he said perhaps with some understatement on French TV on Monday.

Germany is doing better, returning to growth with a better than expected 0.5-percent rise in GDP according to figures released on Friday.

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