Front National, an extremist right-wing party that has called on France to exit the euro.

[pampango]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101231-704028.html

Remaining firmly anchored to the euro zone is key to France's future and exiting the bloc's single currency would spell the end of Europe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday in a televised address to the nation.

"Do not believe those who propose we exit the euro. The isolation of France would be madness and the end of the euro would be the end of Europe," Sarkozy said as he presented his wishes to the nation for the new year.

Sarkozy repeated the government is committed to cutting public spending in 2011 in order to trim France's public debt and deficit. He added that "countries in Europe which lived beyond their means were severely sanctioned," after 2010 witnessed the successive bailouts of Greece and Ireland by their euro-zone peers.

Sarkozy's show of support for the euro-zone and the single currency comes as the Front National, an extremist right-wing party that has called on France to exit the euro, gains popularity in recent polls. Sarkozy is widely expected to run for a second presidential term in 2012.