The French people need to have all the facts so they can choose. And I won't be running away from it or hiding from it.

America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who - with their hands, their intelligence and their heart - built the greatest nation in the world: "Come, and everything will be given to you." She said: "Come, and the only limits to what you'll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your own talent."

I hope that France - and all of Europe - we would take an initiative for the year 2012 to be the year of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Success and social promotion are not some right that anybody can claim after queuing at some [government office]. It is better: it is a right, a right that one can merit because of one's sweat.

You won't hear from me again.

With the world in turmoil and doubt, the American people, faithful to the values that have always defined America's identity, have expressed with force their faith in progress and the future. At a time when we must face huge challenges together, your election has raised enormous hope in France, in Europe and beyond.

Europe is not a choice, it is a necessity, but it needs to be rethought, refounded.