World hedges its bets as as America keeps counting its votes
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LONDON — Millions around the world had their eyes glued to the white knuckle election drama playing out in America on Wednesday, with allies stressing that no matter the winner their relationships with the U.S. remained strong.
The election made headlines in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with commentators weighing in on what a victory by President Donald Trump or Democratic challenger Joe Biden would mean for the world.
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab struck a diplomatic tone, telling Sky News that the U.K.-U.S. relationship was in “great shape and we’re confident that it will go from strength to strength whichever candidate wins the election.”
In Britain, the vote garnered almost as much excitement and media coverage as the country’s own votes have in past years. Billboards on highways touted one radio station’s live coverage of the results and many commentators stayed up all night discussing the vote counts in individual states.
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Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wished the U.S. good luck on Tuesday evening, tweeted that there were “crucial hours and days ahead for the integrity of U.S. democracy.”
In Germany, where Trump is deeply unpopular, German lawmaker and the leader of Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU party Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on German broadcaster ZDF that the German-American friendship had been “put to a tough test” in the past four years.
“Nevertheless, I am sticking to my remarks that Germany and America, that this friendship is more than just the question of the current administration in the White House,” Kramp-Karrenbauer added.
A September Pew poll showed that only 10 percent of people in Germany had confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
News of the election also led coverage in Russia, where the country’s state broadcaster Tass had the story splashed on its website.
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“This U.S. election is being watched closely and intensely, but without too much passion,” Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, told NBC News in an email.
“Whoever wins, the U.S.-Russia relationship will be bad, and possibly get worse. So, the informed public here is focused on what the election will mean for America, and not for Russia.”
The election has also drawn significant interest in Japan, and a former U.S. ambassador told NBC News that Tokyo’s close relationship with America isn’t dependent on its leader.
“If Mr. Biden comes in or Mr. Trump is re-elected, we’re ready to dance with the new president,” said Ichiro Fujisaki, the former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. under former President Barack Obama.
In the Middle East, one of Israel’s main daily papers led on its front page with the election, showing a split cover with photos of both candidates and the words Mr. President next to each of them. There are few places around the world where he is more popular than in Israel, where a poll released on Tuesday showed that 70 percent of Jewish Israelis favor Trump.
Meanwhile, officials in China, which has faced harsh criticism from Trump for its trade practices and handling of the coronavirus, have consistently insisted the election is an internal matter.
However, editorials in China’s papers were more critical of the U.S., with the state-run China Daily saying that the U.S. political system is failing.”
Rachel Elbaum, Adela Suliman and Yuliya Talmazan reported from London; Andy Eckardt reported from Germany.