November 9, 2004
World leaders react
As an overview of diplomatic responses to President George W. Bush's reelection, this article includes reactions from more than a dozen world leaders.
Many are predictable: Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wanted to "congratulate the American people for their choice", while Hamas' Sami Abu Zuhri "urge[d] the new American administration to reconsider its positions."
Most respondents spoke of cooperation and the desire to "build bridges": French President Jacques Chirac, highly critical of recent U.S. foreign policy, discussed "our joint fight against terrorism" and Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero "expressed his wish to work with Bush."
Reuters - Bush Wins - World Leaders React
Bush Wins - World Leaders React
04/11/2004 10:07 AM
Reuters
A divided world is coming to terms with the prospect of four more years of US President George W Bush, with friends hailing his re-election and critics vowing to make the best of it, especially in Iraq.
Allies like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi saw Bush's victory as bolstering the US-declared "war on terror". But some disenchanted Europeans urged him to heal transatlantic rifts.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose outspoken opposition to war in Iraq angered Washington but helped him win re-election in 2002, sought common ground with Bush.
"I will continue the good and close cooperation that we have. This is in the interests of the United States as well as those of Germany and Europe," said Schroeder on Wednesday.
French President Jacques Chirac, another fierce critic of the Iraq war, congratulated Bush and spoke of "our joint fight against terrorism".
Many Arabs forecast further bloodshed in the Middle East because of what they saw as Bush's misguided policies, but elsewhere politicians and commentators said continuity in the White House had its merits.
Bush supporters abroad focused on what they saw as the president's more resolute anti-terror line three years after the September 11 attacks.
In dramatic proof of the changes in Moscow in the past 20 years, Putin said victory for Bush meant the United States had not allowed itself to be cowed by terrorists.
"I can only feel joy that the American people did not allow itself to be intimidated, and made the most sensible decision," he told a Kremlin news conference.
Berlusconi, also in Moscow, said: "Bush will continue with the policy that assigns the United States the role of defender and promoter of freedom and democracy".
In Poland, which like Italy has troops in Iraq backing US forces, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said that on terrorism Bush "is a very decisive leader who is right, simply right" and that continued cooperation with him was "really good news".
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq after his surprise March election win following Madrid attacks claimed by a group linked to al Qaeda, expressed his wish to work with Bush.
Build Bridges
The US election was watched intently around the world with issues of deep international interest, including the Iraq conflict and the state of the US economy, dominating the race.
The European Union said it looked forward to strengthening ties with the United States.
Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik spoke for several countries when he said: "I hope that (Bush) will try to build bridges ... and do more to cooperate via international organisations."
Both sides in the Middle East conflict congratulated Bush.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said in Paris, where he is undergoing medical tests, that he hoped Bush's second term would lead to Middle East peace and "guarantee the just national rights of the Palestinian people," an aide said.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose country enjoys strong support from the world's only superpower, said: "We congratulate the American people for their choice."
But with the exception of Israelis and some Iranians, Middle Eastern peoples reacted with resigned disappointment.
Khaled Maeena, editor of Saudi newspaper Arab News, said: "Four more years means (Bush) will be relentless in fighting so-called terrorism. More innocent people will be victims ... All the Saudis I've seen so far are disappointed."
Sami Abu Zuhri, of the Palestinian group Hamas which is fighting Israel, said: "We urge the new American administration to reconsider its positions.
"Until they (do so) we will continue to regard the US administration as hostile to our Arab and Muslim causes."
Analysts said Bush would need to restore goodwill eroded by US opposition to worldwide issues such as the Kyoto pact to fight global warming - a top issue for his ally Prime Minister Tony Blair - and the International Criminal Court.
"(Kyoto is) not an easy issue for Bush to shift on. He may be prepared to make some cosmetic, face-saving shifts to try and help Blair, but I can't see him making a fundamental shift of position," said British politics professor Wyn Grant.
Posted by Lena Malcolm at 1:07 PM
New Zealand leader expects more of the same
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark struck a very conciliatory tone when commenting on the reelection of President Bush in an interview for a national talkback radio station. Clark expressed her wishes to continue the "good relationship" that the New Zealand government has established with the Bush administration, and her expectations that their interactions would be "business as usual". She also compared Bush's reelection to that of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, commenting that "voters responded to strong leadership".
Keith Locke, foreign affairs spokesman for the minority Green Party (the party controls only 9 of 120 parliamentary seats), took a much more aggressive stance when asked about Bush's win. He wants to make it clear to the rest of the world that New Zealand is not supportive of the U.S. administration's recent foreign policy decisions and encouraged New Zealand to "take a lead, in the United Nations and elsewhere, to help curb the worst excesses of the White House."
New Zealand Press Association - Bush win won't change things in NZ - Clark
Bush win won't change things in NZ - Clark
THURSDAY , 04 NOVEMBER 2004
Prime Minister Helen Clark says George W Bush's victory in the United States presidential election means business as usual for New Zealand.
Miss Clark said she was sending a letter of congratulations to President Bush.
She was looking forward to congratulating him in person at the APEC leaders' summit in Santiago, Chile, later this month.
"I look forward to the New Zealand Government continuing its good relationship with President Bush and his administration," Miss Clark said.
"We know the Bush administration well, I know the president relatively well, I get on with him well. Our key ministers know their ministers well and we will get on with the good relationship we have developed," Miss Clark told NewstalkZB.
"Our countries work together on a range of issues and I expect it will now be business as usual."
After a long night of counting the votes it was clear Mr Bush had been given a clear mandate to govern the US for another four years.
"It is a very clear result. You can't argue with a three and a half million to four million votes ahead, and given that George Bush polled that well on the popular vote it would have been a travesty if the electoral college hadn't delivered that result."
Miss Clark said both the US result and the recent victory of John Howard in Australia showed that voters responded to strong leadership.
"Where you have a strong leader and that strong leader communicates conviction about what they are doing and the economy is moving up...it's hard for a challenger to beat," Miss Clark said.
Green foreign affairs spokesman Keith Locke said the Government should stand up to Mr Bush more often in his second term than it did in his first.
"America has voted and the rest of the world now has to live with their choice," Mr Locke said.
"After four years of illegal aggression, contempt for international conventions and abuse of human rights we can't allow Bush to continue setting the agenda.
"We can take a lead, in the United Nations and elsewhere, to help curb the worst excesses of the White House.
"The rest of the world must be left in no doubt that we, unlike Howard's Australia, aren't just another of George Bush's 'South Pacific deputies'."
Posted by Lena Malcolm at 12:39 PM