World leaders rush to congratulate Joe Biden

Although President Donald Trump has refused to formally acknowledge, world presidents have hailed Joe Biden for winning the nail-biting US presidential election.

Among the congratulatory messages were some notable silences from Trump’s closest world allies and Washington’s strongest enemies. Russia, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and China have not made any official announcements since the news broke on Saturday afternoon, the largest television network in the United States.

The first world leader to break the silence was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who did not mention Mr. Trump, who often had a troubled relationship with him.

Instead the Canadian leader said he would work with the United States to “advance peace and inclusion, economic well-being and climate action around the world” and congratulated both Mr Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris on becoming the first Black American and the first American Vice President of Asian descent. No. 2 office of the country where he worked.

Several major television networks announced Mr Biden’s victory on Saturday after a five – day ballot count in key swing states.

“I am honored and humbled by the trust that the American people have placed in me and Vice President-elect (Kamala) Harris,” Biden said on Twitter.

After hearing repeated arguments about election fraud, Trump insisted that he had won, accusing Biden of “running erroneously to show he was the winner”.

“These elections are far from over,” he said in a statement released while playing golf in Virginia.

This did not stop the leaders of the Western countries who are considered to be the long standing allies of the US celebrating Mr. Biden’s victory. Many have clashed with Mr. Trump over security, trade and many other multilateral issues, including Washington’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreements. During the NATO and G7 summits, Mr. Trump repeatedly insulted fellow leaders, officials behind closed doors, and occasionally walked out of meetings.

Quick, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and New Zealand released ads.

“Americans have elected their president. Congratulations oe Jobiden and ama Kamala Harris! We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let’s work together!” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter, “Welcome to America Anne Hidalgo!” Tweeted.

“It is good that a clear result is finally coming,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Moss wrote, “and we look forward to working with the next US administration.”

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also hailed Mr Biden as “a true friend of Greece”.

Many of the world’s authoritarian or democratic leaders who are considered Mr. Trump’s ideological fellow travelers, however, are silent about the downfall of the man who empowered and legalized the brand of their right-wing populism.

Turkey, which has an exceptionally warm relationship with the White House under Mr Trump, is among those who are mum.

Iranian officials – including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif – have not released any statement on Mr Biden’s victory, which means a return to the nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama during his tenure as vice president.

Instead, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called the vote “a scenario” and “a definite political, civil and moral decline of the US regime.”

Abbas Mousavi, Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan and a former foreign ministry spokesman, said on Twitter that “Joe Biden may be like his predecessors.”

In Russia, the Kremlin is also quiet. In a sign of what is to come, the chair of the Federal Council for Foreign Affairs, Konstantin Kozakov, released a rejected post on Facebook announcing that Mr Biden’s victory was premature because “there is no official result yet”.

“There is no clear, unconditional and loyal winner. Instead of success, there are conflicts, and mutually exclusive social views on America’s future,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, which is close to the Trump administration, has not yet released a statement.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst on the advisory board for one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s mega projects, said the Gulf would generally favor Trump’s victory, but “we can live with it.”

“He was unreliable and scared people who thought in the Gulf,” Shihabi said.

In Israel, there has been silence from Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Mr Trump ‘s closest allies, who has been criticized for being too close to Mr Trump and the Republican Party in terms of harming bilateral relations between the two countries. The banner photo of Mr. Netanyahu’s official Twitter account remains his picture with Mr. Trump.

Yet Israeli opposition figures and the Palestinian leadership made rapid progress. Ayr Lapid, who ran against Mr Netanyahu in three extraordinary elections in Israel, described Mr Biden as a “friend” in a statement where he referred to both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Leading Arab-Israeli parliamentarian Ahmed Tibi, meanwhile, said the Trump era was over.

“The White House without Trump should bring in a less racist world,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Palestinian leadership, which severed ties with the Mr Trump administration two years ago after officially declaring the rival city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, has expressed a similar sentiment.

Palestinian Liberation Organization senior official Hanan Ashrawi “America is in decline!” Wrote. “The world must be able to breathe,” he adds.

Budapest Mayor Gergley Karaksoni, who won the election against Hungarian strongman Victor Orban’s party, described Mr Trump as good for the moderate government, but Biden was good for Hungary.

After the opening break, India and Egypt, which were exceptionally close to Mr Trump, also followed spec specs on how their messages would be stuck when the Democrats won.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, nicknamed Trump as his favorite dictator, emphasized “strategic bilateral relations” between the two countries.

The Prime Minister of India, despite developing a close friendship with Mr Trump for four years, has not backed down, and Mr Biden has hailed his “amazing victory”.

Modi released a special tweet congratulating Kamala Harris, the first Indian American Vice President. “Your success is a breakthrough, and I am very proud not only of your in-laws, but of all Indian-Americans. I am confident that strong Indo-US relations will be further strengthened with your support and leadership,” he wrote.

Back in Europe, a senior French diplomat jokingly described the mood as “we are very relieved”.

Maintaining damage control during the lame duck period is one of European priorities until Mr Biden comes under White House control on January 20 and prepares for a reset of relations.

The official predicts that Trump’s defeat will lead to a number of consequences, which means the UK will be more willing to compromise on Brexit, while authoritarian leaders in Eastern and Southeastern Europe will be more concerned with human rights abuses, and Russia will be less “schizophrenic”.

“We are excited to address common challenges with cooperative governance and to address differences in a civilized way,” the diplomat said. “We have no illusions that Pax will return to America, and we know the Europeans need to do more.”