The European Union and the United States recommitted themselves to a smooth transatlantic relationship on Friday and hoped the second term of US President George Bush will no longer be marred by nasty political and trade disputes.
But French President Jacques Chirac, wary of Washington’s global economic and political clout, said it is imperative for Europe to boost its standing so that the world can become ”multipolar”.
”It is evident that Europe, now more than ever, must strengthen its unity and dynamism when faced with this great world power,” Chirac said at the end of a two-day summit. ”More than ever we must reinforce Europe politically and economically.”
Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister who chaired the meeting of 25 EU leaders, made a slate-clearing phone call to Bush after hosting the summit of government leaders and congratulated him on his re-election.
”Both sides expressed a desire to strengthen the relationship,” said Frits Kemperman, a Dutch government spokesperson. ”The American president assured Balkenende that he will invest in relations with Europe.”
Bush and Balkenende stressed the importance of joint efforts to combat terrorism and the Aids epidemic.
At their summit, EU leaders offered to put past differences aside and issued a statement saying: ”Our deep political, economic and cultural ties make us each other’s natural and indispensable partners.”
”We share the same values,” said Balkenende. ”We want to fight terrorism, problems in parts of the world, poverty — all the issues make it necessary to work together.”
Even Chirac — the most vocal European opponent of the US-led war in Iraq — also underlined his country’s close historic and cultural ties with the US.
”The areas of agreement are infinitely bigger than the areas of disagreement,” Chirac told reporters.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair — the US’s staunchest ally in Europe — told reporters that EU leaders have to face up to the reality of Bush’s re-election and ”move on”. He added it is ”important that we work with the Americans … to bring stability to Iraq. To have Iraq turn from a repressive, failing state under Saddam Hussein to a democracy will have a huge impact in the Middle East.”
Germany, which opposed the war in Iraq, also joined in congratulating Bush and expressing hopes for close cooperation.
But the European leaders want Bush to spend more time on consulting international allies during his second term. Criticism that Bush too often relied on a go-it-alone approach during his first four years in office has hurt the trans-Atlantic relationship.
The EU summit statement said the two sides need ”to combine efforts, including in multilateral institutions, to promote the rule of law and create a just, democratic and secure world”. — Sapa-AP