World leaders welcome president-to-be

World leaders rushed to congratulate France’s president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy tonight, hoping he would help boost international efforts to address issues from climate change and Middle East peace to salvaging the EU’s beleaguered constitution.

The French election results were widely anticipated in Europe, where France was playing a “central role” in EU decision-making, especially on how the bloc should be run in years ahead, and whether it should allow Turkey in as a member, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said.