PARIS (Dispatches) -- Emmanuel Macron was inaugurated as France's youngest ever president on Sunday, saying the country had chosen "hope" and promising to relaunch the flagging European Union.
Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, took the reins of power from Francois Hollande a week after he won a resounding victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a tumultuous election.
After a warm welcome from Hollande at the Elysee Palace, the two men held a closed-doors meeting during which Macron was handed the codes to launch France's nuclear arsenal.
In a moment heavy with symbolism, 62-year-old Hollande -- who launched Macron's political career by appointing him first as adviser and then economy minister -- was then driven away from the palace to applause from his staff and the new president.
The former investment banker who had never even contested an election before was then proclaimed president by Laurent Fabius, president of the Constitutional Council.
In his first speech, Macron said the French people had chosen "hope" and shown a willingness to change in the election.
He promised that the EU, hit by the imminent departure of Britain, would be "rejuvenated and relaunched" during his time in office.
"The world and Europe need France now more than ever and they need a strong France with a sense of its own destiny."
To underline his European ambitions, Macron will visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday in his first foreign trip.
The new president faces a host of daunting challenges including tackling stubbornly high unemployment, fighting Islamist-inspired violence and uniting a deeply divided country.
Socialist Hollande's five years in power were plagued by a sluggish economy and bloody terror attacks that killed more than 230 people and he leaves office after a single term.
Security was tight, with around 1,500 police officers deployed near the presidential palace and the nearby Champs Elysees avenue and surrounding roads blocked off.
In June, Macron faces what the French media are calling a "third round of the presidential election" when the country elects a new parliament in a two-round vote.
Macron won one of the most unpredictable French elections in modern history marked by scandal, repeated surprises and a last-minute hacking attack on his campaign.
The election saw voters reject France's two traditional political forces of left and right. Their candidates were eliminated in the first round.
Unpopular Hollande was the first to bow to the rebellious mood in December as he became the first sitting president not to seek re-election in the French fifth republic, founded in 1958.