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World Reacts To Obama's Re-Election

Sarah Hussein Obama, grandmother to President Obama, celebrates his re-election in his ancestral home village of Kogelo, Kenya.
Thomas Mukoya
/
Reuters /Landov
Sarah Hussein Obama, grandmother to President Obama, celebrates his re-election in his ancestral home village of Kogelo, Kenya.

Once the news of President Obama's reelection spread, the congratulations started raining in.

NPR's Philip Reeves reports that one of the first messages came from British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Above all congratulations to Barack Obama," Cameron said during a trip to Jordan. "I enjoy working with him, I think he is a very successful American president and I look forward to working with him in the future."

Correspondent Terri Schultz reports from Brussels that some leaders congratulated Obama through Twitter.

Terri sent this report our Newscast unit:

"European Union President Herman van Rompuy sent out a tweet in his native Dutch that he was "very happy" about the re-election of President Obama. Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso issued a joint message of "warm congratulations", saying they hope to meet with Mr. Obama very soon to continue what they called intense cooperation, promotion of common values and reconfirmation of priorities.

"The head of the group of eurozone nations, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker also expressed satisfaction at the U-S result, noting it will be easier to work with a re-elected Obama than a new team – both because he doesn't have to learn the ropes and because, Juncker believes, Obama will now be able to focus less on domestic issues and can pay more attention to the US-European relationship."

As we've reported, polls showed that Obama was the heavy favorite around the world.

The BBC has rounded up more statements from leaders around the world. Here are some highlights:

-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a cozy relationship with Romney, said he would "continue to work with President Obama to preserve the strategic interests of Israel's citizens."

-- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said:

"I have deeply appreciated our many meetings and conversations about all the issues involved in developing the German-American and the transatlantic relationship, not least in overcoming the global financial and economic crisis."

We'll leave you with the celebration in Kogelo, the Kenyan village where Obama's father was born and where his grandmother lives. Here's video courtesy of The Guardian:

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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