Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday sent a letter to US President-elect Barack Obama congratulating him on what he called a "brilliant victory."

After extending the "warmest congratulations" on his behalf and that of the French people, Sarkozy wrote that Obama's election triumph "crowns an exceptional campaign ... (that) has shown the vitality of American democracy to the entire world."

Sarkozy added, "In choosing you, the American people have chosen change, openness and optimism."

Obama's victory, the French president said, "raises a great hope in France, in Europe and in the world - that of an open, united and strong America that will show a new way, with its partners, by the strength of its example and the adherence to its principles."

France and Europe "will draw new energy to work with America to preserve the world's peace and prosperity," Sarkozy wrote.

"American democracy has just experienced a magnificent moment, one of those major occasions that periodically demonstrate its vitality," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement.

Praising Obama's "spirit of commitment, generosity and tolerance," Kouchner noted that France, Europe (and) the international community need his energy, his rejection of injustice and his will to go forward in order to build a more stable, more secure and more just world."

Junior Minister for Human Rights Rama Yade, the first-ever black government minister in France, told France-Info radio, "At this moment, we all want to be Americans. We all want to be part of this historic moment that is unfolding there."

Yade noted that there was still "a great deal of work to be done" but that Obama's election "must sound the hour also for us to mobilize, with concrete results."

Sarkozy's Socialist Party opponent in the 2007 presidential election, Segolene Royal, called Obama's election "an extraordinary message of hope."

In a press statement, Royal said, "This is a change of era because the world has crossed a new threshold. I wish that mixed-race America has, with one stroke, advanced brotherhood everywhere in the world." (dpa)