Party political leaders in Germany lined up as expected Monday behind the successful candidates emerging from the first round of the French presidential elections, according to dpa. Edmund Stoiber, veteran head of the Christian Socialist Union (CSU), described the 31-per-cent vote gained by conservative candidate Nicholas Sarkozy as "a good day" for Germany and for Europe. Stoiber said Sarkozy's policy of rejecting Turkey's application for membership of the European Union dovetailed "precisely" with that of the CSU, the Bavarian-based sister-party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Kurt Beck, head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), congratulated Socialist candidate Segolene Royal on an "outstanding result" in securing 26 per cent. Beck, premier of the federal state of Rhineland Palatinate, expressed confidence that the French left would gather momentum in the two weeks remaining. The SPD intends to join the French Socialist Party in presenting a common programme before the second and final round on May 6. The head of the German Free Democrats (FDP), Guido Westerwelle, congratulated the third candidate, centrist Francois Bayrou, for helping to break up "the classic left-right structure" of French politics. Bayrou, who secured the backing of 19 per cent of the electorate, had stood up for the middle ground in France, Westerwelle said. Merkel welcomed the high turnout in the first round, but would only say that she would await the outcome on May 6 with interest. At that point it would become clearer how to proceed with the stalled European Union constitution, rejected by the French electorate almost two years ago, she said. Germany, which holds the current EU presidency, has given high priority to restarting the constitutional process, with the aim of improving the EU's institutional functioning.
