In France, voters ousted incumbent conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in a presidential runoff, electing socialist candidate Francois Hollande, who has spoken out against austerity measures to help curb the debt crisis in France.

Hollande has said he favors working to get out of the debt crisis through economic growth instead of cost cutting. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country backs the euro and has called for indebted countries like Greece and France to cut costs, said she favors economic growth, but it cannot be growth on the back of government debt, according to CNN. A spokesman for Merkel said Germany has no plans to loosen restrictions on how far into debt European Union countries can go.

Fortune magazine predicts Hollande will push for more government regulation of business, which could have an impact on Wall Street.

In Greece, voters did not allow the two major parties supporting bailout and “austerity-for-aid” policies to gain a majority in their parliamentary elections. The election leaves the Greek parliament fragmented, as the majority parties don’t have enough power to push through legislation, and the minor parties – most who don’t support austerity measures – are too divided to form a coalition.

The Greek parliament must approve a plan by next month to cut $11 billion in spending for 2013 and 2014 to continue receiving aid from Germany and the EU. 

“Failure to secure a political majority to meet the terms of the second Greek program could see the country inch towards euro exit,” said Michala Marcussen, global head of economics at Societe Generale SA in Paris, according to Reuters. “This would, in our opinion, be seen as a negative event, even beyond Greece’s borders.”