World leaders pledge to work with Trump after US election stunner

BERLIN

REUTERS photo

World leaders pledged to work with Donald Trump after his shock victory in the U.S. presidential election but some officials expressed alarm that the vote could mark the end of an era in which Washington promoted democratic values and was seen by its allies as a guarantor of peace. 

Governments in Britain, China, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Russia, Hungary, Malaysia, Philippines, Egypt and the European Union all congratulated Trump and said they would work with him. 

“It is not an easy path but we are ready to ready to do our part and do everything to return Russian and American relations to a stable path of development,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom Trump expressed admiration during the election campaign. 

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to reach “new heights” in bilateral ties under Trump. And British Prime Minister Theresa May said the “enduring and special relationship” between Britain and the United States would remain intact. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Trump that any “close cooperation” between the two countries must be based on shared democratic values, and reminded him of the global responsibility he carries.  

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Twitter that “EU - #US ties are deeper than any change in politics. We’ll continue to work together, rediscovering the strength of Europe,” while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. leadership was as important as ever and that “a strong NATO is good for the United States, and good for Europe.”

“Japan and the United States are unshakeable allies connected by common values such as freedom, democracy, basic human rights and rule of law,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif urged Trump to stay committed to the Iranian nuclear deal.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Trump on his election victory, with the words “What a great news. Democracy is still alive” posted on his Facebook page. 

“Congratulations to the new president of the United States Donald Trump and to the free American people,” said French politician Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right anti-immigration National Front (FN) party. 

The Vatican’s first reaction to the election of Donald Trump has focused on its wish for global peace. Pope Francis pope did not mention the U.S. elections during his Wednesday audience, but secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, offered Trump congratulations in a statement to Vatican Radio that “his government can be truly fruitful.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi congratulated Trump and said he hoped his election would unleash a new era of closer ties with Washington.

But other officials, some of them with senior roles in government, took the unusual step of denouncing the outcome, calling it a worrying signal for liberal democracy and tolerance in the world. 

French President Francois Hollande, who once said Trump made him want to retch, warned Wednesday that the Republican billionaire’s stunning victory in the US election “opens a period of uncertainty.”

“Trump is the pioneer of a new authoritarian and chauvinist international movement. He is also a warning for us,” German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with the Funke newspaper group. 

“The world won’t end but it will get crazier,” tweeted German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, a Social Democrat (SPD) in conservative Merkel’s right-left coalition.   

The European Parliament President Martin Schulz said the election of Trump would make work “harder” for the EU, “but he is the freely elected president.”