France: French President Jacques Chirac finally phoned George Bush yesterday to congratulate him a week after his re-election as US president, while his foreign minister, Mr Michel Barnier, appealed for better transatlantic ties.
Mr Chirac's office said he had told Mr Bush he looked forward to continuing the two nations' "constructive and friendly relations".
"(Mr Bush) highlighted the United States and France were doing great things together," Mr Chirac's spokesman Mr Jerome Bonnafont said of the fight against terrorism and the crises in Afghanistan and the Ivory Coast.
Many other state leaders congratulated Mr Bush in person well before Mr Chirac made his call. German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schröder - also a critic of the war in Iraq - called the president on Friday last while President Chirac only sent Mr Bush a letter last week.
In an opinion piece headlined Letter to an American friend, published by Le Monde newspaper, Mr Barnier called for a fresh impetus to transatlantic relations. But he also stood by criticism of the US-led war in Iraq, saying such crises were calling international law into question.
"It is obvious that on the political front, dialogue between the European Union and the United States is neither sufficient, nor sufficiently regular," Mr Barnier wrote. "America needs a capable and responsible Europe. And Europe needs a strong America that is involved in world affairs, committed to multilateralism... convinced that the world needs rules - and rules that apply to everyone."
Mr Barnier proposed a working group of independent personalities from both sides of the Atlantic to find ways to improve dialogue. He also called for better cooperation to help solve conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.
"There are many other subjects, many other regions that should benefit from our new dialogue so there will not be a second Iraq; so there will be no more crises in which international law is so profoundly questioned, in its legitimacy and even its utility."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday he wanted to make clear to EU nations that the US wanted good relations despite the disagreement over Iraq.
He said he would be visiting Europe in the coming weeks to assure "that the president wants to have a strong relationship with all of our European friends and allies and notwithstanding any disagreements we have had in the past." - (Reuters)