France worries about Europe, not Hollande - by Dominique Moïsi

On the face of it, history seemed to be repeating itself. In Bastille Square, people celebrated the victory of the left in France’s presidential election, while in the bourgeois neighbourhoods of Paris, the heavy silence of defeat was in stark contrast with the jubilation relayed by television programs covering the celebrations elsewhere. But while 2012 may have looked and sounded like the Socialist victory of 1981, it definitely is not 1981.

There is today less hope and fewer illusions on the part of the winners, and less fear among the losers. Frenchmen are more worried about the evolution of Europe, starting with Greece, than with France.

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