President Jacques Chirac, whose country France is heading a one-day European Union summit with the United States here, said the EU trusts its overseas relations will grow stronger under future US president George W. Bush, and paid homage to outgoing President Bill Clinton.
"President Clinton left a deep impression in the history of the modern world," Chirac told reporters here Monday after a meeting with Clinton, before the EU-US summit.
"Without him, I think the construction of Europe would not have gone exactly as it did; that's why we're paying him a homage," Chirac, the outgoing EU president said as European Commission president Romano Prodi looked on.
On the future of EU-US relations under Bush, who will replace Clinton in the White House on January 20, Chirac said he had no doubt that "our relations with the new US president will be equally good."
Chirac, who also met with Bush on Monday, said transatlantic relations, as always, would continue to be based on "trust, solidarity and friendship."
Despite Bush's hints during his election campaign that he would be in favor of distancing the United States from Europe, Chirac said that "a priori" he had no concerns about the EU-US relations on defense issues.
He stressed that Europe will now have its own rapid-deployment force, saying it "can only reinforce the NATO alliance and stability in the world.
During the 15th EU-US summit under Clinton's eight-year mandate, officials from both sides dealt with trade issues, the AIDS epidemic, development aid and the fight against global warming after the failed conference in The Hague.
"On all these issues, it was clear there is a real dialogue and, above all, real common points of view between the United States and Europe," Chirac said after the meeting.
Chirac left Washington late Monday for Ottawa, where he was to attend another EU summit with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien -- WASHINGTON (AFP)
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