French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday that he will battle the country's "pessimism" amid the declining national economy. He made the statement in a television interview in celebration of Bastille Day.
The French economy started declining in line with the European recession this year. The country also experienced its highest level of unemployment in recent years. Although generally unpopular to his constituents, Hollande vowed to give new confidence in a population deemed unhappy and dissatisfied by recent polls.
"For years we have been the most pessimistic country in Europe, in the world even. There are countries at war that are more optimistic than we are," the French president told the media after leading the Bastille Day military cavalcade at the world famous Champs Elysees.
Bastille Day is celebrated every 14th of July to celebrate the uprising of modern France.
"The economic recovery is here," the President said, pertaining to a slight increase in industrial production.
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