François Hollande became the first Socialist French President for over 20 years on Sunday night and the moment of his victory over Nicolas Sarkozy to declare a fight back against Germany’s austerity policies. On the same day in Greece, neo-Nazis entered the country’s parliament after national elections that wiped out mainstream parties that had supported austerity measures imposed by the EU. Accepting his mandate as French president, Mr Hollande threw down the gauntlet to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who has made austerity policies a condition of euro membership.