Socialists Celebrate Francois Hollande's Victory in French Presidential Elections [PHOTOS]

"I am the president of the youth in France. You are a movement that is rising up throughout Europe," Socialist Francois Hollande told scores of his supporters in Tulle who were celebrating his victory in the French presidential elections on Sunday, according to the BBC.

Hollande, the first Socialist to be President of France in nearly two decades, said that he was proud of rekindling the hope of people with his victory. He secured 52 per cent of votes in the run off as predicted by most the opinion polls.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the outgoing President, also acknowledged Hollande's victory and wished him good luck.

Giving a hint about the early measures in his presidency, Hollande said: "Europe is watching us, austerity can no longer be the only option."

He was able to win the elections by keeping the austerity measures and the growing sense of inequality at the centre of his campaign.

The French were blaming Sarkozy for the higher unemployment and the general economic crisis in the country. However, analysts are not optimistic about any immediate reforms. "I don't think he's going to come out tomorrow and say, 'Right, there's going to be a fundamental reassessment of the strategy,'" Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

"Hollande will initially have a softly, softly approach to Germany. He's going to attempt a fairly conciliatory approach. Once that's rebuffed and the French economy deteriorates and the South [Spain and Italy] slides into ever-deeper crisis, then we will see a broader-based challenge to the German hegemony," Tilford added.

In any case, the election results are expected to influence everything - from France's role in the Eurozone to French troops' stay in Afghanistan.

Sarkozy's conservative government has become the 11th European government ousted from power in recent times. The governments in Spain, Italy, Britain, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Denmark and Finland were toppled in recent years due to the escalating economic crisis.