Sarkozy, le président élu...

Immediate reactions to the result of the second-round vote: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on French TV, calls for a renewal of the Parti Socialiste along Social Democratic lines; Pierre Moscovici, says that it shows the need to select a candidate at a much earlier stage - Sarkozy had been, at least in his own mind, the Right's candidate since 22 April 2002.

Denis MacShane, on BBC Radio 4's election special, takes a softer line on Ségolène Royal - the French Socialists need to redefine themselves, like New Labour. On the World Service, the following morning, he says, "As I'm on Left, I wanted to see Ségolène Royal as President" (that's not what he was saying in The Observer the week before) and also expresses concerns about Sarkozy's position on Turkey.

The WS also had somebody from Poland on the same programme. Poland is keen to at least keep open the possibility of Ukraine joining the EU. Poland, of course, has strong historical links with parts of Ukraine (the pro-western parts). But Ukraine is seen as being behind Turkey in the 'queue' to join the EU.

In his speech after the vote, Sarkozy spoke against the competition of commemoration, "repentance, which is a form of self-hatred (haine de soi-même)". Commentators later suggested that this was a sop to Le Pen's voters.