Paris, France (CNSNews.com) - French Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal has accused her conservative opponent of apologizing to President Bush for France's opposition to the war in Iraq, but the move is viewed here as a tactic designed to appeal to public opinion rather than an indication of significant foreign policy differences between the two.

Voters will choose between Royal and former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in a May 6 run-off. The winner will replace President Jacques Chirac, whose second term is ending after 12 years in office.

Analysts say both candidates are expected to maintain French-American relations along current lines.

"France's foreign policy will not change enormously whether it's Royal or Sarkozy who is elected," said Philippe Moreau Defarges of the French Institute of International Relations. "There will be, no matter what, a continuity."

Sarkozy, while not considered a close friend of the outgoing president, is the candidate from Chirac's party, the center right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

A visit to the U.S. by Sarkozy last September, when he was photographed with Bush, drew wide media attention in France at the time - as well as criticism from the left.

Royal, a former cabinet minister who would become France's first female president if elected, said on France 2 television last week that her opponent had gone to Bush "to apologize" for France's refusal to send troops to Iraq.

Sarkozy's campaign responded by accusing Royal of "resorting to lies and personal attacks." Sarkozy also repeated previous statements that while he is a friend of the U.S., he fully supported Chirac's opposition to military action in Iraq.

"Sarkozy's positive sentiments towards the U.S. or Royal's statements about America do not carry much weight," said Moreau Defarges, adding that the accusations are merely campaign tactics to appeal to a certain part of French public opinion.

"Royal is part of a leftist tradition that must always criticize the U.S.," he said.

Moreau Defarges said he expects both candidates will continue Chirac's policies and that French-American relations will not undergo a transformation.

Neither candidate has criticized Chirac's recent announcement that he will withdraw French troops from Afghanistan, where NATO oversees a force helping to secure President Hamid Karzai's government and the Afghan people from Taliban terrorism.

"The two candidates have similar views on foreign policy," said Moreau Defarges.

He argued that Royal's statements do not foreshadow negative relations with Washington.

At the same time, Sarkozy would probably be more cautious in how he deals with the U.S. because of lessons learned from France's isolation, he added. Chirac in 2003 strongly opposed the war in Iraq and ended up causing division in Europe.

Campaigning in the last week has focused on wooing voters who handed 18.5 percent of the vote in the first round of balloting on April 22 to centrist candidate Francois Bayrou and are now thought to hold the key to victory by either the left or the right.

In that first round, Sarkozy led with 31.1 percent of the vote, and Royal scored 25.9 percent.

Sarkozy remains ahead, according to opinion surveys. In an Ipsos poll released on Sunday, respondents favored him over Royal by 52.5-47.5 points.

In an odd campaign twist on Saturday, Royal debated Bayrou - who is no longer a candidate - and tried to find common ground with him to appeal to his support base.

Sarkozy over the weekend promised to represent France's "silent majority" and the interests of ordinary French people.

He has proposed a return to traditional values and has pledged economic reforms that would include lower taxes and an easing of tight employment regulations to stimulate France's sluggish economy.

Royal's campaign promises are centered on safeguarding France's state welfare system and protecting workers rights, although she too has acknowledged a need for economic reform.

The Right to Life Alliance (Alliance pour les Droits de la Vie) has pointed to other major differences in the two candidates.

Although embryonic stem cell research, cloning, abortion, same-sex "marriage" and euthanasia are not campaign issues in the French elections, the alliance said Royal's views and traditions are less in line with life values than Sarkozy's.

"With Royal, we wouldn't have allies but rather ideological adversaries on these values," said Tugdual Derville, the alliance's spokesman. Under a Sarkozy victory, "we know we would have people in his government who would be favorable to the respect of our ideology," he said.

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