Francois Hollande

My security is assured everywhere, and at any moment.

We are a big country, with lots of advantages and history. We are proud to be French. We have to call on patriotism at this time... to ask for an effort in the battle against debt.

The arguments in the Brexit vote and in the American presidential campaign are about the same. In a friendly way, may I also give some advice to the American people to make the right choice when the moment comes.

France wants Britain to remain in the E.U.; indeed, how can we imagine that friendly nation that is our ally and played a role on the international stage could be outside the E.U.?

The partnerships between Schmidt and Giscard, Kohl and Mitterrand, and even between Chirac and Schroeder, have proved that political differences do not mean that we cannot work together.

When we live longer, we must work a little bit longer.

If there is not a united policy, this mechanism will not work: it will collapse, and it will... undoubtedly be the end of Schengen, the return of national borders.

An education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home.

Everyone says Francois Mitterrand had huge charisma. But before he was president they used to call him badly dressed, old, archaic and say he knew nothing about the economy... until the day he was elected. It's called universal suffrage. When you're elected, you become the person that embodies France.

Is France a northern European export powerhouse, or a Mediterranean indebted and dependent economy? Yes to both.

France is no longer herself when she is folded in on herself, tormented by ignorance and intolerance. The country would plunge into decline if it refused to be itself, if it was afraid of the future, afraid of the world.

Between France and Senegal there's a history. There's a language that we both speak. There's a culture that we share and to which both of our peoples have contributed. But beyond our history, beyond our language, beyond the links that have united us for so long, what unites us today is the future.