Hollande is unmoved as leaders shun his campaign

French Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande has said he was unconcerned by a report that conservative European leaders had agreed to shun his campaign and he vowed to stick with his plan to renegotiate an EU budget treaty.

German weekly magazine Spiegel reported that Christian Democratic chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy and Italy’s technocrat leader Mario Monti had agreed not to meet Mr Hollande because of his opposition to the fiscal pact signed by 25 European leaders in Brussels last week.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who did not sign the treaty, later joined the agreement among the leaders of Europe’s main powers, the magazine wrote, without citing sources.

Mr Hollande has said he has the support of left-wing governments in Belgium and Denmark and did not need backing from Europe’s conservative governments.

“I do not know if this information is accurate ... but it does not impress me,” he told France 3 television, asked about the Spiegel report. “It’s quite natural that there should be an alliance of conservatives in favour of the conservative candidate in France.

“It’s not the European leaders – who I respect by the way – who will influence the decision of the French people,” he said.

During a visit to London last week to seek support from French expatriate voters the Socialist candidate met with Labour leader Ed Miliband but was not invited for talks with Mr Cameron.

Mr Hollande holds a comfortable lead over president Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls ahead of France’s two-round election in April and May.