Obama congratulates Belgium's Van Rompuy on election as EU President

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday congratulated Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy on his election as European Union's first president, saying the United States is looking forward to working closely with EU to address common challenges.

The Belgian prime minister on Thursday was unanimously elected as the first full-time EU president and Britain's EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief of the 27- nation bloc.

"The United States has no stronger partner than Europe in advancing security and prosperity around the world. These two new positions, and related changes to take effect on December 1 as a result of the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, will strengthen the EU and enable it to be an even stronger partner to the United States," said a White House statement.

"We look forward to working closely with President Van Rompuy and High Representative Ashton, as well as Commission President Barroso and his new cabinet of Commissioners, to fulfill the commitments made at the U.S.-EU Summit on November 3, 2009 to address bilateral, regional and global challenges together," said the statement.