By Noah Barkin (Reuters)
With Barack Obama as their new partner in Washington, European governments see a chance to make headway on a range of global issues, from combating climate change to containing Iran's nuclear programme.
The president-elect is not well known to European leaders and officials here are uncertain what priorities he will set when he moves into the White House on Jan. 20 against the backdrop of global financial turmoil and recession.
But in Berlin, London and Paris, where his campaign for the presidency has been closely watched, there is a sense of confidence that Obama will bring about a welcome shift in U.S. foreign policy — one that that replaces confrontation with dialogue and ideology with pragmatism.
That has raised hopes for a new start in tackling some of the daunting new challenges of the 21st century, from Iran and Middle East peace, to global warming and financial reform — all issues major powers have struggled to address with President George W. Bush, a deeply unpopular figure in Europe.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged Obama to join Europe in forging a "new deal for a new world" and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised his "progressive values" and vision.
"At a time when we must face huge challenges together, your election has raised enormous hope in France, in Europe and beyond," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, both America-friendly conservatives, have helped heal the transatlantic strains surrounding the Iraq war.
Both have developed close ties with Bush, visiting him at his vacation homes in Texas and Maine. They must now forge relationships with Obama, who met Merkel for the first time when he toured Europe this summer.
U.S. PROTECTIONISM
The first major test will be reaching agreement with Washington on new rules to govern the world financial system, a task some in Europe fear could prove difficult.
"The worry, in the midst of the financial crisis, is that protectionist tendencies will grow under a Democratic president," said Volker Perthes, director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
There is also concern in some capitals that Obama could make onerous new demands of Europe as he follows through on his election promise to shift the focus of U.S. military operations from Iraq to Afghanistan.
This is a particular worry for Merkel, who faces an election next year and a public that is deeply sceptical about Germany's 3,300-strong Afghanistan mission.
Coupled with the concerns, however, is a hope that Obama will push for a reassessment of the broader Afghanistan mission and listen to European demands that more resources be put into civilian reconstruction there.
On Iran, there is also optimism in Europe surrounding Obama's plan to sit down and talk with Tehran's leaders, which some U.S. allies have been urging Bush to do for years.
"We cannot complain about our cooperation with the United States on Iran, but the current policy has had only limited success," said a senior German official close to Merkel. "We think it is good that Obama is thinking about going down a different path."
RUSSIA RELATIONS
Outside of western Europe, Obama's victory is being viewed with a mix of optimism and apprehension.
In central Europe, where concerns about Russian power are on the rise, some governments would have preferred the hard line of the defeated Republican candidate John McCain, who criticised Moscow when it pushed into Georgia in August and threatened to kick Moscow out of the G8.
But Krzysztof Lisek, head of the Polish parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters he expected Obama to take a tough stance towards Moscow and to support Bush's plan to put parts of a U.S. missile shield in Poland.
In Moscow, Obama is seen as a "more suitable" partner than McCain, said Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the international affairs committee of the Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Relations between Russia and the United States have sunk to their lowest point in years amid disputes over NATO expansion, the U.S. missile shield plan and Russia's war with Georgia.
"With Barack Obama there is a chance for U.S.-Russian relations, a hope that something may change for the better," Kosachyov said.
Still, some analysts caution that the enthusiasm that Obama's election has generated across Europe, particularly among citizens who see him as a symbol of America's rejection of the Bush era, should not be overdone.
Like his predecessors, they say, Obama will put U.S. interests first. At the outset of his presidency, he could also be distracted by U.S. economic woes, pushing issues dear to Europeans, like climate change, to the back burner.
"There are such high expectations of Obama that by definition there will be some disappointments," said Pascal Boniface, director of the Institute of International and Strategic Relations in Paris. "He doesn't have a magic wand."
