EU’s letter calls for cooperation

By The Associated Press

Published: November 4, 2008

MARSEILLE, France — The European Union wrote a letter to the new U.S. president on Monday calling for an era of closer cooperation in tackling issues of global importance.

The six-page draft letter addressed to "Dear Mr. President” will remain sealed from public view until the recipient is known after the election.

The theme of the document is multilateralism.

"I think both candidates are looking toward Europe and have shown an interest in Europe. They want to see the two shores of the Atlantic working together,” said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who described the letter to reporters.

Kouchner and other EU officials made clear that Europe wants to be brought in as an equal partner and to have its expertise in some regions of the world recognized.

"It is important to work where we have shown leadership and offer this leadership to the United States,” EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said, citing relations with Georgia and eastern Europe.

Kouchner said the EU — a member of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers alongside the U.S., United Nations and Russia — doesn’t "want to play a secondary role anymore.”

"There is life after the American elections,” EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said. "What is important is to see how we can work together.”

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