STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images(PARIS) — France officially has a new leader: Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron was inaugurated Sunday morning as the country’s new president.
Macron, 39, is the youngest president in France’s history. He was elected on May 7, beating his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen.
The official result of the vote was proclaimed in a ceremony Sunday at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris by the president of the Constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius.
Macron met for an hour with his predecessor, Socialist Francois Hollande, prior to being sworn in. The pair met in the president’s office to discuss issues of national security, including the country’s nuclear codes.
During his inauguration speech, Macron said, “we will take all our responsibilities to provide, every time it’s needed, a relevant response to big contemporary crises.”
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