French president-elect Emmanuel Macron, left, stands with outgoing French president François Hollande during a ceremony in Paris on Monday marking the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany during World War II. (Stephane De Sakutin/Pool/EPA)

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron began his transition to power Monday, a day after he handily defeated Marine Le Pen, the candidate for the ultraconservative National Front party, in a runoff election.

Macron, who appeared with current President François Hollande at a World War II remembrance ceremony, announced a visit to Germany and a name change for his centrist political movement, which when translated into English was called Forward but will be called Republic on the Move. He must pull together a majority of lawmakers for the party to run in the mid-June legislative election. Macron has promised that half of those candidates will be new to elected politics.

Macron won the presidency with 66 percent of votes cast for a candidate, but the vote saw a high number of blank or spoiled votes and unusually low turnout.

Le Pen says she will lead the opposition to Macron.

Monday was the first time Macron and Hollande had appeared in public together since Macron resigned in August 2016 as Hollande’s economy minister to run for president — a decision that was received coldly by the French leader at the time.

On Monday, though, Hollande gripped Macron’s arm before the two men walked side by side and then announced the transfer of power would take place Sunday.

Monday also marked decades of peace in Western Europe, something Macron highlighted in his campaign against Le Pen. Le Pen had called for France to leave the 28-nation European Union and drop the shared euro currency in favor of bringing back the French franc.

Sylvie Goulard, a French deputy to the European Parliament, said Macron would make Berlin, Germany, his first official visit, with perhaps a stop to see French troops stationed abroad as well.

Macron, who is 39, will be the youngest leader of France since Napoleon ruled in the country around the start of the 19th century.