Mixed views in Europe as Bush triumphs

Date: 04/11/04

REPUBLICAN supporters were triumphant at George W. Bush's victory - but the reaction in Europe was more muted.

Romano Prodi, the European Commission president, congratulated Bush and said he hoped that his second term would see the world enjoy "political stabilization" after the "horrifying onslaught of terrorism".

But Daniel Cohn-Bendit, leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, said that Bush's victory made "Europe's role as a counter-weight to the US ever more important".

Norway's premier Kjell Magne Bondevik said that if the US continued to attach "little importance" to its alliance with Europe, Oslo could edge closer to joining the EU. But he predicted that Bush would seek more harmonious relations with Europe.

Next week's edition of European Voice will contain a report on EU-US relations, in the light of the changing US and Brussels administrations.

Article features European responses to the outcome of the US Presidential elections on 2 November 2004.