The small Irish village of Moneygall, where President Barack Obama can trace some of his ancestors and recently stopped to raise a pint of Guinness with a distant cousin, crowds waving American flags and plaques read "Welcome Home". Just as in Dublin earlier in the day, the US President was treated welcome of the hero in Moneygall he launched a four-nation European tour that culminates with the Summit of the G8, in France, 26-27 May. This cheerful reception set the tone for the rest of the visit of the Obama, which will also include a visit to Poland, as the Europeans offered him the applause without reservation, that they are now denied several of its leaders.
IN pictures: OBAMA return to EUROPE
Obama appeared as comfortable sipping a pint of beer in the heart of regions rural of the Ireland, as it is usually hosting galas of the White House in Washington. He was unfazed by the Royal reception and the salvo of 41 given in his honour at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. According to Royal watchers, Queen Elizabeth II took a taste for the Sung since the meeting the couple during their 2009 visit to London. And on Thursday, Obama became the first President of the United States to address both houses of Parliament at Westminster Hall in London.
Visit to come from the Obama in France, his second as President, he will join major leaders of the economies of the world and will therefore be deprived of the exclusive media attention, that he was drawn to Ireland and Great Britain. Nevertheless, the French want to witness the landing of more recent Normandy of the Obama - and the press will likely be scramble to respond to this request, as it is seized.
Image changing
As a candidate of the presumed Democratic Party and during the first days of his mandate, Obama won the legions of fans throughout Europe. In July 2008, Senator then attracted a crowd of 200,000 people in Berlin's Tiergarten Park. Nine months later, as President, Obama told a large crowd of 20,000 in Prague that a nuclear-free world was possible. Other notable tours in Europe have included France in June 2009, for the 65th anniversary of the d-day allied in Normandy and Norway in October 2009 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
According to Divina Frau-Meigs, a sociologist at the University of Paris 3 media, initial call of the Obama was directly linked to a strong aversion to Europeans of former President George w. Bush. "Obama has been considered a person with support base, not bound to Bush-like big companies." "[Obama] was seen as someone who would be to withdraw the troops of Iraq and close Guantanamo", Frau-Meigs said, adding that many Europeans is disappointed that these expectations went unmet in Obama.
In his first trip to France two years ago, Obama was granted ceremoniously by one of his unabashed fans: President Nicolas Sarkozy. According to Christine Rolland, President of the chapter of Democrats abroad Normandy, the French were "absolutely thrilled" to see the Obama then. "The France and the United States share a long love-hate relationship". I lived the phases of this batch. "The Obama administration marks certainly a climax," said Rolland, a 26-year-old resident, of the France.
For the French press, visit the Obama and the ceremony marked a turning point in the French-American relations, which had been strained over the reluctance of Paris to join the invasion of the Iraq in 2003. With Obama, the French were once more willing to embrace America and forget any incident "freedom fries".
While admitting that the US President still popular in France, Frau-Meigs, said there are signs that disappeared in the French initial enthusiasm exposed in the spring of 2009. She stressed the popular TV show "Les Guignols de l'Info", a satire policy that uses puppets, which depicts once Obama as being significantly different from its predecessor in the White House. This image has gradually given way to a character Guignol confident and often bullying - not unlike the way that former President Bush is interpreted on the show, according to Frau-Meigs.
Writing in the left British daily The Guardian, on the eve of the European tour of Obama journalist Gay Younge agreed to record this Obama on issues which are important for the Europeans, such as the closure of Guant?namo and reduction of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistanwithout interest. But for Younge, popularity of pop-star of the Obama in Europe "has barely changed since its emergence as a credible candidate." Europeans are simply willing to overlook the faults and the promises of the Obama, argued the British journalist.
Win - win.
Analysts expect the tour to be beneficial for the Obama, which is already in fashion campaign for his re-election in 2012. Images of Europeans, crazed waving flags Americans and British Ministers laugh at Obama each sentence will certainly make their way back across the Atlantic.
Widespread Obamania in Europe stands in contrast to the treatment of the leaders of the continent at the end. While the French and British Governments slash public jobs and reduce budgets, Prime Minister David Cameron and President Sarkozy have seen their approval ratings sink. While it retains the approval of a majority of Poles, President Bronis?aw Komorowski also saw his support slip, according to a survey in April per polling agency community organizations.
Obama is perhaps could not stimulate the collective image of its European counterparts with his mere presence, but it can be a positive step from which voters address.
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