World leaders applaud Biden

India, Iran, Britain say they look forward to coming relations

Although President Donald Trump wasn’t conceding defeat, world leaders swiftly congratulated Joe Biden for his election victory Saturday.

The news elicited cheers in an Italian coffee bar, encouraged protesters outside the house of Israel’s prime minister, drew mixed reviews in Iraq and inspired disbelief in Slovenia, the homeland of first lady Melania Trump.

But relief was a common theme expressed in many parts of the world to the news that Trump’s reelection bid failed.

“Welcome back America !” tweeted the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

Congratulations poured in for Biden from world capitals, including in nations governed by leaders who got along with Trump.

“The Americans have chosen their President. Congratulations JoeBiden and KamalaHarris! We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let’s work together!” tweeted French President Emmanuel Macron.

Other leaders who sent congratulations included Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who’d been known for public displays of bonhomie with Trump.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Biden’s victory and the “historic achievement” of Kamala Harris’ election as the first Black woman vice president. Johnson said he looked forward to “working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.”

Word of the victory in Pennsylvania that pushed Barack Obama’s former vice president past the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes

needed to take over the Oval Office cascaded around the globe on social media and live news broadcasts, sparking celebrations in some places and bitter memories elsewhere.

Immediately after the news broke, Iran’s information and communications technology minister, Mohammad Javad Azari, tweeted a blackand-white portrait of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general assassinated in an American drone strike earlier this year. He captioned it #End of Trump.

Hesameddin Ashena, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, wrote on Twitter that the “Iranians have stood steadfastly until that coward’s time came to leave.” Biden has suggested he would return to engagement with Iran.

India’s prime minister posted a photo of himself with Biden and sent congratulations for “your spectacular victory!”

“I look forward to working closely

together once again to take India-US relations to greater heights,” Modi said.

He also congratulated Vice President-elect Harris in a separate tweet for her “pathbreaking” success and said her win is a “matter of immense pride” for all Indian-Americans.

Harris’ late mother was from India. Kamala is Sanskrit for “lotus flower,” and Harris gave nods to her Indian heritage throughout the campaign.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who was the only world leader who congratulated Trump before all the votes were counted, continued in his support of the incumbent.

He tweeted, in Slovenian: “Interesting. The complaints were launched in all American states with tight results. The courts didn’t even start deliberating. Still, the leading media (and not some official body) are proclaiming the winner. Congratulations from all sides. That’s what you call the rule of law.”

Peter Morrison The Associated Press Joe Blewitt, a cousin of President-elect Joe Biden, and his wife, Deirdre, celebrate Saturday at a mural of Biden in his ancestral home of Ballina, Ireland.