Brussels, 23/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 23 April, the Party of European Socialists (PES) congratulated François Hollande on topping the polls in the presidential election campaign in France. According to the French Home Affairs Ministry, Hollande won 28.63% of the votes and the outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy 27.18%, so that the two men will have to face a second round of voting on Sunday 6 May. The PES hopes that if Hollande is voted in, this will mark a change of political majorities in Europe, and therefore of the dominant socio-economic policies on the continent. “This result marks a clear turning point. François Hollande has consistently and courageously said no to austerity-only policies and French citizens have shown they agreed. Soon Europe will follow”, the party's president, Bulgaria's Sergei Stanishev, predicts in a press release. The PES also deplored the significant vote (17.9%) for the French extreme right wing party, the Front National, describing it as an “indictment” of the incendiary words and policies of the current French government. (MB/transl.fl)