Nicolas Sarkozy today officially took charge as France's new president, replacing Jacques Chirac as head of state.In a hand-over ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Sarkozy, the 52-year-old rightwinger who won elections on May 6 against the Socialist Segolene Royal, succeeded to the presidency.Mr Sarkozy won the election on pledges of market reforms and a break with the past. In his inauguration speech he called for tolerance and unity and said he would defend France's identity and independence.His foreign policy priorities would be defence of human rights and the fight against global warming."I know that the new president Nicolas Sarkozy will be eager to lead our country further down the road of the future, and my best wishes go with him on this most demanding and beautiful of missions," outgoing President Jacques Chirac said in his farewell speech yesterday.
