Germany-US-Obama
The German government on Friday praised the Berlin speech by US presidential hopeful Barack Obama as "a positive signal to Europe," a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted as saying here Friday.

Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told journalists that Obama's call for close international cooperation corresponded with the stance of the German government and the chancellor .

Meanwhile, the government coordinator for German-American ties, Karsten Voigt hailed Obama's key foreign policy speech as
"significant."
It made clear "both sides of the Atlantic want to tackle global problems," he added.

Addressing a crowd of 200,000 people at an open air venue in downtown Berlin Thursday evening, Obama called for a deepening of the American-European partnership aimed at battling the new threats of the 21st century among them terrorism and climate warming.

The 46-year-old Democratic Senator from Illinois was scheduled to leave Berlin Friday afternoon for Paris where he was due to meet with French President Nicholas Sarkozy .

There had been conflicting media reports about whether Obama would make a short stopover at the US military air base in Ramstein, located in southwestern Germany to visit a nearby US military hospital which treats US troops who were seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama's multi-nation foreign trip was mainly directed at sharpening his foreign policy profile with American voters.

He started his tour with visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East before arriving in Berlin on Thursday for talks with German leadership.