France's Republicans in crisis mode, while Hollande wants to stop Le Pen at any cost

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Monday for a meeting with Franois Fillon and another senior conservative figure, Alain Juppe, in a bid to hammer out a solution to the crisis facing the scandal-plagued Fillon's presidential election campaign.

Sarkozy said on his Twitter feed that the aim of the meeting was to ensure a "dignified and credible way out from a situation which cannot last any longer and which is the source of deep concerns among French people."

Juppe has been touted as a potential replacement for Fillon, but sources within The Republicans party say supporters of Sarkozy have balked at such a swap.

Juppe quickly quashed the notion, announcing Monday morning he wouldn't be a replacement candidate if Fillon were to suspend his presidential bid.

"I confirm once and for all that I will not be candidate to the presidency of the Republic," Juppe, 71, said in his hometown of Bordeaux, adding that it was because it had become harder than ever to unite his conservative The Republicans party and because voters wanted fresh faces.

"What a waste!," Juppe said of the Fillon campaign, adding that Fillon had put himself in a "dead-end" with his response to the scandal.

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Fillon has so far stood firm and refused to give up his candidacy despite calls to do so from several senior members of the party, and even though opinion polls show him losing an election that is less than 50 days away.

Once the front-runner, he is mired in a scandal over hundreds of thousands of euros of public money he paid his wife to be his parliamentary assistant.

He denies allegations she did little work for the money, but suffered a serious blow last week when he learned he could be placed under formal investigation for misuse of public funds.

Meanwhile, outgoing French President Franois Hollande said in European newspaper interviews published on Monday that his "ultimate duty" was to prevent a victory of far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in this year's election.

"My ultimate duty is to make sure that France is not won over by such a programme, and that France does not bear such a heavy responsibility," said Hollande of the risk of a Le Pen victory in the election.

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Hollande added it was inevitable that the European Union would have countries progressing at "different speeds" and that he saw no reason to call into question Donald Tusk's role as president of the European Council.

He also said the "euphoria" of financial markets after the election of U.S President Donald Trump appeared to be "very premature."

The deeply unpopular Socialist leader is not seeking re-election.

The interview was published in Le Monde, La Stampa, The Guardian, La Vanguardia, Suddeutsche Zeitung and Gazeta Wyborcza.