Sarko enjoys mixed support in France. Though he is known to be a pragmatic leader, he has courted controvery with his remarks.
Two years ago, he -- then interior minister in President Jacques Chirac's cabinet -- labelled immigrants racaille (rabble), provoking riots in the French suburbs where many immigrants of African origin live.
'The France I dream of is one which leaves no one behind, a France which is like a family, where the weakest, the most vulnerable, the most fragile have the right to as much love, as much respect and as much attention as the strongest,' he said after the results of the first round were announced.
The new French President-elect is also against Turkey joining the European Union, a key issue facing the EU.
Image: Nicolas Sarkozy at the Concorde Square, Paris, on Sunday, May 6
Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
Also see: The lessons from France
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