Americans celebrate President-elect Biden's victory on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. Photo Credit: BOSTON GLOBE
WALL STREET JOURNAL — After a drawn-out vote count that transfixed not just the U.S. but most of the world, many global leaders on Saturday were quick to respond to former Vice President Joe Biden’s election victory, with most sending congratulations and vowing to work with him.
In Europe, where many countries hope President-elect Biden will reverse some of the decisions of the Trump administration, leaders in Germany, France and Italy as well as the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization applauded Mr. Biden’s win.
“The American citizens have decided,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a statement Saturday. “I look forward to working together with President Biden. Our transatlantic friendship will be critical if we want to overcome the great challenges of the time.”
And German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter, “We want to invest in our cooperation for a new transatlantic beginning, a new deal.”
Germany and other countries had opposed many moves by Mr. Trump, including the reduction of U.S. troop levels in Germany and the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord.
On Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson—who had gone to great lengths to court Mr. Trump during his presidency—tweeted his congratulations to Mr. Biden and Vice President-electKamala Harris.
“The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together,” he wrote.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the U.S. can count on Italy as an ally and partner and called the election “an outstanding turnout of democratic vitality.”
Among the first world leaders to congratulate Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris was Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister.
“Canada and the United States enjoy an extraordinary relationship—one that is unique on the world stage,” Mr. Trudeau said in a statement. “We will further build on this foundation as we continue to keep our people safe and healthy from the impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic, and work to advance peace and inclusion, economic prosperity, and climate action around the world.”
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trudeau have established ties: Roughly a month before Mr. Biden left office as vice president, Mr. Trudeau hosted a state dinner in Ottawa for him. In remarks, Mr. Biden told Mr. Trudeau the world was counting on the Canadian leader to help champion a progressive agenda during Mr. Trump’s presidency.
In China, arguably Mr. Biden’s biggest foreign policy challenge after President Trump broke with decades of policy that fostered ties between the two giants, officials didn’t respond to the election results Saturday.
Chinese media on Saturday quoted U.S. media as saying Mr. Biden is president-elect and that Mr. Trump indicates he isn’t conceding but hasn’t carried any official message from Beijing about the news.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Sunday congratulated Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris on Twitter. “I look forward to working with you to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and ensure peace, freedom, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” Mr. Suga said.
Mr. Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, built a close personal relationship with President Trump. The U.S. results mean Mr. Suga, who has little foreign-policy experience aside from assisting Mr. Abe, will be able to make a fresh start with a new U.S. leader.
In Russia, where Mr. Trump has sought to rekindle relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin hadn’t issued a statement as of Saturday evening.
Yet Konstantin Kosachev, a Russian senator and typically outspoken critic of the U.S., wrote on Facebook that Mr. Biden’s victory means that “the entire liberal world, U.S. allies and anyone who was counting on the ideological indifference of the last superpower are encouraged today.”
At the same time, Mr. Kosachev, chairman of the International Affairs Committee in Russia’s State Duma, expressed optimism that Mr. Biden’s election would take accusations of Russian interference in U.S. elections “off the agenda” in the U.S. domestic context.
While Mr. Trump has sought to smooth relations with Russia, he has cracked down on Iran, withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal and imposing tough sanctions. Following the news of Mr. Biden’s victory, the Iranian ambassador to the U.K., Hamid Baeidinejad, tweeted in Farsi: “At last, the political life of a man who was only spreading resentment is over.”
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Mr. Biden. Israeli press and analysts noted that Mr. Netanyahu was silent on Saturday night, when other leaders such as the U.K.’s Mr. Johnson, another close Trump ally, sent well wishes to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.
“Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the U.S. and Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Twitter.
He also thanked Mr. Trump “for the friendship you have shown the state of Israel and me personally, for recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan, for standing up to Iran, for the historic peace accords and for bringing the American-Israeli alliance to unprecedented heights.”
Other Israeli officials congratulated Mr. Biden, including the head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, who has criticized Mr. Netanyahu for alienating Democrats with his embrace of Mr. Trump.
“The relationship between our countries is based on deeply held values and critical shared interests which I know will be at the heart of your administration,” he wrote Saturday on Twitter.
In Egypt, a key Middle East ally that receives more than a billion dollars of U.S. military aid each year, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi was among the first Arab leaders to congratulate Mr. Biden, according to a statement from the Egyptian president’s office.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was looking forward to working with Mr. Biden to end illegal tax havens and continue to work for peace in neighboring Afghanistan.
The Trump administration and the Afghan Taliban struck a deal in February that involves a phased withdrawal of all U.S. troops. In return, the Taliban pledged to prevent al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups from operating in Afghanistan, and to begin the first-ever peace talks with the Afghan government—which started in September—to end nearly two decades of fighting.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday tweeted: “Afghanistan looks forward to continuing/deepening our multilayered strategic partnership with the United States—our foundational partner—including in counterterrorism & bringing peace to Afghanistan.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a Twitter post that as vice president, Mr. Biden’s “contribution to strengthening Indo-U.S. relations was critical and invaluable.”
Mr. Modi also nodded to Ms. Harris’s Indian roots, saying: “Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans.”
Chittis is a Tamil word for aunts that Ms. Harris used in her speech accepting her vice-presidential nomination.
Closer to home, Mexican nationalist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a populist who nurtured an unlikely friendship with President Trump, refused Saturday to congratulate president-elect Biden. He said that the U.S. electoral process hasn’t ended yet and that Mexico will wait for the various legal challenges announced by Mr. Trump to be resolved in court.
“We don’t want to be imprudent nor act hastily,” said Mr. López Obrador at a news conference in his native Tabasco state.
The Mexican president saw Mr. Trump as a fellow political outsider taking on a corrupt establishment, while Mr. Trump praised him for cracking down on illegal migration to the U.S. Analysts have said that Mr. López Obrador may now find a Biden administration more intrusive in areas including renewable energy, climate change and even women’s rights.
Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing president of Brazil, who embraces his nickname, “the Trump of the Tropics,” also didn’t make a comment Saturday. He has made no secret of his opposition to Mr. Biden and has often lavished praise on Mr. Trump.
In neighboring Venezuela, the country’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, said in a tweet that Venezuela was always ready for “dialogue and understanding” with the U.S. Mr. Biden has called Maduro a dictator and has promised that he wouldn’t ease U.S. sanctions or pressure against the regime. He also has said broadly that he’ll back efforts for a democratic transition, negotiations and free elections.
Juan Guaidó, the leader that the U.S. recognizes as Venezuela’s legitimate president, said “we know that the cause for liberty and democracy in Venezuela counts on bipartisan support in the U.S.”
By Saturday night Cuba hadn’t congratulated Mr. Biden on his victory, although Granma, the ruling Communist party’s official newspaper, published an article with news of the Democrat’s win. Readers’ comments on Granma’s website generally praised Mr. Biden’s triumph, and hoped for an easing of economic sanctions Mr. Trump has imposed on Cuba.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa—whose country Mr. Trump’s national security adviser earlier this year named a “foreign adversary” trying to sow discourse in the U.S.—was quick to send his congratulations on social media.
Australia and New Zealand also congratulated Mr. Biden, with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison praising Mr. Biden’s commitment to multilateralism. Both countries promised to work with the U.S. on matters such as security, Covid-19 and climate change.
Written by WSJ's Bojan Pancevski, Paul Vieira and Ann M. Simmons.
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