Hollande inaugurated as France’s new president (Video).

Francois Hollande has been sworn in as president of France, becoming the first Socialist leader in 17 years to occupy the Elysee Palace, BBC News reported.

Hollande said he was fully aware of the challenges facing France, including the debt crisis and weak growth.

He will later name his prime minister and fly to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Hollande wants "a compromise" over the German-led focus on austerity as the way out of the economic crisis.

On Monday, the value of stock markets and the euro fell amid continuing political uncertainty in Greece.

The chairman of the eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, insisted on Monday night that they would do "everything possible" to keep Greece in the euro.

Hollande was sworn in for a five-year term at the Elysee Palace in central Paris.

Outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy shook hands with his successor in the palace's courtyard before leading him inside for a private meeting, at which France's nuclear launch codes were handed over.

The new leader asked that the inauguration ceremony be kept as low-key as possible, and invited just three dozen or so personal guests to join the 350 officials attending. Neither Mr Hollande's children nor those of his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, were there.