EU applauds Obama victory, hopes for 'new deal'

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union applauded Wednesday the US election victory by Democratic candidate Barack Obama and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calling for a "new deal".

"This is a time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the United States of America," Barroso said in a statement. "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," he said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, wished Obama great success and said his energy would be needed to build a safer world.

"France, Europe and the international community need his energy, his rejection of injustice and his determination to go forward to build a safer, fairer and more stable world," said Kouchner.

"France and the European Union will stand ready to work closely with Barack Obama and with his administration within the framework of a renewed transatlantic partnership," he said in a statement.

"Together, we must seize this historic opportunity to combine our efforts to meet the economic, climate and security challenges that also face us all," said Kouchner, wishing Obama "the greatest possible success".

Europe's ties with US President George W. Bush were regularly strained, and tensions among EU countries over the Iraq war were fuelled by his perceived preferrence for unilateral decision-making outside the United Nations.

Kouchner said that people around the world would "welcome the election of a man committed to dialogue between peoples and communities, and cooperation among nations."