PARIS, Nov 9: French President Jacques Chirac finally phoned George W. Bush on Tuesday to congratulate him a week after his re-election as the US president and his foreign minister Michel Barnier called for better transatlantic ties.
Relations between the two Cold War allies have been cold since Chirac opposed last year's US-led invasion of Iraq, and both sides have said that patching things up will be a priority in the second Bush administration.
Chirac's office said he had told Bush he looked forward to continuing the two nations' "constructive and friendly relations".
"(Bush) highlighted the United States and France were doing great things together," Chirac's spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said, pointing to cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in addressing crises in Afghanistan and Ivory Coast.
Many other state leaders congratulated Bush in person well before Chirac made his phone call. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - another critic of the war in Iraq - called Bush on Friday while Chirac only sent Bush a letter last week.
In an opinion piece entitled "Letter to an American friend," published by the daily Le Monde, Barnier called for a fresh impetus to transatlantic relations.
DIALOGUE INSUFFICIENT: 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," 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."
Barnier proposed a working group of independent and recognized 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.
"Let's reactivate the Quartet," he said, referring to a peace mediating group in the Middle East comprising the European Union, the United States, the United Nations and Russia.
"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."
France has worked hard to patch up ties with Washington but continues to promote a multilateral approach to solving world conflicts. The two countries also remain divided over global trade issues and have clashed over Nato's role in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday he wanted to make clear to European nations that the United States wanted good relations despite the disagreement over Iraq.
"I'll be spending a lot of time in Europe in the weeks coming up just to make sure our European friends have no illusions 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," Powell told reporters as he flew to Mexico City for talks.
In a survey last week, 65 per cent of French people questioned said Bush's re-election was a bad thing, and three-quarters said they expected no change in relations between Paris and Washington.-Reuters