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PARIS -- European and world leaders reached out Sunday to France's Socialist president-elect Francois Hollande, whose election win was built in part on a pledge to renegotiate Europe's austerity pact.
Hollande has called on the eurozone to broaden its focus from austerity to incorporate growth, a message that he repeated in his victory speech declaring: "Austerity can no longer be the only option."
US President Barack Obama phoned Hollande to congratulate him on his win and invite him to the White House later this month.
Obama "indicated that he looks forward to working closely with Mr Hollande and his government on a range of shared economic and security challenges," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
Germany pledged to work with the French president-elect after he dealt a humiliating defeat to Chancellor Angela Merkel's closest European ally, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Hollande won few friends in Berlin by criticizing the chancellor's insistence on austerity as the way out of the crisis, and Merkel had backed Sarkozy's campaign for re-election.
But she nonetheless phoned Hollande to congratulate him and invite him for talks in Berlin as soon as possible.
Britain's Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to work with the Socialist leader to strengthen the Franco-British relationship.
"They both look forward to working very closely together in the future and building on the very close relationship that already exists between the UK and France," a spokesman from Cameron's Downing Street office said.
Cameron's domestic austerity drive is at odds with the incoming French president's belief in government-driven growth. He too backed Sarkozy at the beginning of the election campaign.
Britain's center-right media has also expressed concern over a Hollande victory after he declared war on the finance industry, which generates huge revenues for Britain.
Ed Miliband, leader of Britain's opposition center-left Labour party, welcomed Hollande's victory. "This new leadership is sorely needed as Europe seeks to escape from austerity," he added.
Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose spending cuts have sparked street protests in a country suffering recession and a 24 percent jobless rate, also offered his congratulations.
The premier sent his message "in the conviction that a fruitful bilateral and European relationship will develop that will be to the advantage of the Spanish-French friendship," according to his office.
Rajoy was due to speak to Hollande by telephone on Monday, it added.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he hoped for close cooperation with French president-elect Francois Hollande, in a message congratulating him on his election victory.
This cooperation should "aim at an increasingly efficient and growth-oriented union", said Monti.
The markets, however, reacted nervously, with the euro falling Monday in Asian markets.
Investors were also worried about a knock-on effect on European austerity measures after the governing parties in Greece were routed in elections there.
At 7:00 a.m. in Tokyo (2200 GMT Sunday), the euro was at $1.3022, down from $1.3082 on Friday at 2100 GMT in New York.
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