You will hear a lot of congratulations in the days to come for François Hollande. The first ones have already come in, and among the ones congratulating was the social democrat President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz who wrote in a tweet earlier this evening:

“Félicitations à François Hollande! C’est le moment de changer de direction en Europe. #Fh2012”

This tweet indicates the political closeness of Schulz to Hollande, not surprising, as Schulz not just congratulates but expects “a new direction for Europe” from this election. What is interesting to note is that this tweet was retweeted by Commissioner Andor.

Now, this supportive applause by Andor may not be surprising for anyone watching Brussels politics, but it’s another proof that he may be the only openly socialist/social-democrat Commissioner in the European Commission. It is very likely that he, although the Commission meeting protocols did not reveal any names, might be behind this statement linking executive pay and unrest in Greece during a recent Commission meeting.

Nobody should say there’s no politics in Brussels.