Initial results suggest that Francois Hollande will beat right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by about four points, to become France's first Socialist president in 16 years. No other way to interpret this than as a rejection of Europe's austerity regime.

(By the way, I was just watching Sarkozy's concession speech, and you should have heard the boos from his right-wing supporters when he said that the election results should be "respected." Typical right-wingers.)