Relations with US will improve under Obama, say EU citizens

A major new survey released on Wednesday shows that nearly half of Europeans - 47 per cent - believe that relations between the US and Europe will improve if Barack Obama is elected as the next US president.

Only 11 per cent believe that transatlantic relations will improve if John McCain, who, according to latest polls, currently enjoys a narrow lead over Obama in the race to succeed George W. Bush, is elected.

As EU-Russia relationsdeteriorate, the survey, which was conducted prior to the latest latest developments in the caucasus reveals that Europeans continue to express concern about Moscow´s behaviour toward its neighbours and are more willing than Americans to provide security assistance for neighbouring countries like Ukraine and Georgia.

However Europeans are less willing than Americans to support restricting cooperation with Russia in international organisations (38 per cent to 47 per cent).

The annual public opinion survey that gauges transatlantic relations reveals that a plurality of Americans and Europeans desire a closer transatlantic relationship and possess common values on a wide spectrum of issues that could lead to cooperation on international problems.

Based on common values and shared interests, the survey shows that Americans and Europeans want closer relations," said Craig Kennedy, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

The results of the survey were released at a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Kennedy said, "Whether it's the result of world events, a new US administration on the horizon, or insecurity on several fronts, a new American president will have the opportunity to not only improve the United States' standing in the world, but perhaps also to ask more of European leaders."

Other key findings include:

• 84 per cent of Americans and 72 per cent of Europeans continued to express their greatest concern about Russia's role in providing weapons to the Middle East;

• 57 per cent of Europeans agreed that NATO is still essential to their country's security, an increase of four percentage points from last year;

• Turkey's cooling trend since 2004 reversed in 2008, with Turkish "warmth" toward the EU (on a 100-degree "thermometer" scale) increasing over the last year by seven degrees to 33 degrees and toward the United States by three degrees to 14;

• 69 per cent of Europeans viewed Obama favourably, compared with 26 per cent who viewed McCain favourably.

The survey also found that there were shared concerns among Americans and Europeans that international terrorism and the international economy should be top priorities of a new American president and European leaders.

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