…British PM Johnson: look forward to a close relationship
…Trump a tyrant, says Iran’s President
President Muhammadu Buhari and other world leaders have felicitated with President Joe Biden as he was inaugurated as the 46th American President.
While others were effusive in their praise for Biden’s taking the helm, some leaders slammed outgone President Donald Trump for his policies, calling him a tyrant.
China expressed the hope that Biden would look at China rationally and objectively to repair the damage in bilateral ties caused by the Trump presidency.
The spokesperson for the foreign ministry, Hua Chunying, at a press briefing on Wednesday, said, “In the past four years, the US administration has made fundamental mistakes in its strategic perception of China, interfering in China’s internal affairs, suppressing and smearing China, and causing serious damage to China-US relations.”
She urged the Biden administration to look at China rationally and objectively, meet China halfway and, in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, push China-US relations back to the right track of healthy and stable development as soon as possible.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called on Biden to return to the 2015 nuclear deal and lift US sanctions on Iran, overturning a key part of Trump’s foreign policy program.
He said, “The ball is in the US’ court now. If Washington returns to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, we will also fully respect our commitments under the pact.”
He also described the outgoing president as “a tyrant”.
“Someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world, ” Rouhani said concerning Trump.
The German President, Frank Walter Steinmeier, said he was relieved that Biden would be sworn in on Wednesday, calling it “a good day for democracy.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Steinmeier said, “In the United States, (democracy) held up against a lot of pressure. Despite internal hostility, America’s institutions have proven strong — election workers, governors, judiciary, and Congress.
“I am relieved that Joe Biden is sworn in as President today and coming into the White House. I know that this feeling is shared by many people in Germany.”
Steinmeier, however, warned against the populist brand of politics that Trump embraced. “Despite all the joy we have about today, we must not forget that populism has seduced even the most powerful democracy in the world,” he said. “We must resolutely oppose polarization, protect and strengthen the public space of our democracies, and shape politics on the basis of reason and facts.”
The international community embraced Biden’s pledge to reenter a series of global pacts and organizations that President Donald Trump cut loose, CNN reports.
The European Union expressed hope in the Biden’s administration.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels in Belgium on Wednesday, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said, “Once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House,” leaving no uncertainty about her verdict on Trump’s relationship with the bloc.
“This new dawn in America is the moment we’ve been waiting for so long. Europe is ready for a new start with our oldest and most trusted partner.”
She added that Biden’s inauguration would be a message of healing for a deeply divided nation and it will be a message of hope for a world that is waiting for the US to be back in the circle of like-minded states.
“From our perspective, Trump saw Europe as an enemy,” a senior European diplomat told CNN. “The lasting impact of ‘America First’ is the US having fewer friends in Europe.”
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said he looks forward to a close relationship with Biden’s administration.
“In our fight against Covid and across climate change, defence, security and in promoting and defending democracy, our goals are the same and our nations will work hand in hand to achieve them,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday.
The new President could end up making two trips to the UK in 2021, with Johnson saying he looks forward to welcoming him to the G7 summit and to the hotly anticipated 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
“Only through international cooperation can we truly overcome the shared challenge,” Johnson said.
President Buhari said Nigeria was hopeful of a better working relationship with U.S. under Biden and wished him a resounding success in office.
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