US ambassador says Obama win will improve EU relations

The US ambassador to the EU says that the election of Barack Obama will lead to an improvement in transatlantic relations.

Speaking to this website on Wednesday, Kristen Silverberg, who only took up her post in July, said the president-elect had expressed a desire during the election campaign to reach out to Europe.

“He and John McCain made it clear that America highly values the EU and its member states as partners in tackling global issues.”

Silverberg, who had previously worked for the Republican administration, said she hoped that a renewed openness towards Europe would become apparent in upcoming talks in Copenhagen on tackling global warming, the G20 summit on Saturday in Washington DC and in “revitalising” the Doha trade talks.

She also said the fact that America had elected its first black president and that a woman stood for the vice presidency shows the diversity of the US electoral system.

Her comments were echoed by Kurt Volker, permanent representative of the US to Nato, who said, “There have been differences of opinion between the EU and US on a whole range of issues, including the war on terror and climate change. What is still missing is a strong sense of a transatlantic community, that is, how we can deal with such issues together.

“But there is a lot of enthusiasm and support in Europe for working with the new administration, and vice-versa, and this is very encouraging.

“The new president faces some very serious foreign policy challenges but I am sure he will reach out to Europe in order to forge agreement on how to address these issues.

“Obama has shown a strong commitment to Nato and will work with the allies to see what more can be done in this field. But it is also up to the Europeans to see what they can do to help rebuild transatlantic relations.”

Meanwhile, more congratulations for Obama have been pouring in from EU leaders. Foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that the EU and US should work together on some of the world’s most complex problems.

“Europe is willing and able to help. There is a high number of very complex global problems: from the Middle-East to Iran and Afghanistan and Pakistan, from climate change to non-proliferation. We need to address those problems together with determination and creativity.”

Commission president José Manuel Barrosos heralded a new era in transatlantic relations after the win, and hoped that Obama would work with Europe to hammer out an answer to the financial crisis.

“We need to change the current crisis into a new opportunity. We need a new deal for a new world. I sincerely hope that with the leadership of President Obama, the United States of America will join forces with Europe to drive this new deal: for the benefit of our societies, for the benefit of the world.”

• Previous article
• Next article