Following Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential elections, EU leaders and EC representatives have sent messages of congratulation and expressed their hopes for continued cooperation with the US. “We look forward to continuing the close cooperation established with President Obama over these last four years, to further strengthening our bilateral ties and to jointly addressing global challenges, including in the fields of security and economy,” said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in a joint statement earlier today (November 7 ).

They underlined that growth and job creation remained priorities in Europe and America, adding that they will “continue to work with President Obama to unlock the unparalleled potential of the transatlantic market.” Barroso and Van Rompuy also said they were looking forward to further work on promoting shared European – US values and expressed their wish for a meeting with President Obama as soon as possible.

Democrat incumbent Barack Obama won his second term as president after a hard fought battle with Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Fears of a long wait for a result did not materialize; last night Obama surged ahead in Ohio and other key swing states and it soon became clear that the vote was not going to be as close as predicted. News organizations called the election for Obama before midnight last night (November 6 ). A few hours later, Mitt Romney's camp decided that they had definitely lost and conceded the election. Romney congratulated Obama and called for an end to partisan bickering in his concession speech. The Democrats also increased their majority over the Republicans in the Senate. The House of Representatives, however, continues to have a Republican majority.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: White House)