PARIS, France (Reuters) — New French President Emmanuel Macron went for a walkabout outside Paris town hall on Sunday (May 14) to greet well-wishers in the last stop of a busy inauguration day.
He was welcomed by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and pledged to nurture success across the French territory during his five-year term in front of an audience of Parisians.
Macron took power as president of France on Sunday morning, vowing to restore the country’s status in Europe and the world and heal divisions in society — a nod to the bitter campaign the pro-European Union centrist fought to defeat a far-right leader.
Macron beat the National Front’s Marine Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote but the long campaign exposed deep divisions over France’s role in Europe, immigration, and policies to revive a sluggish economy bedevilled by high unemployment.
