Washington - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's announcement Wednesday of plans to deploy missiles in its Baltic Sea enclave to counter the US basing of a missile-defence system in Eastern Europe is "disappointing," the US State Department said.

"The steps that the Russian government announced today are disappointing," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

McCormack repeated US assertions that the 10 interceptor missiles planned for deployment to Poland and the radar system to the Czech Republic does not threaten Moscow's vast strategic nuclear arsenal. The shield is designed to protect against Iran's growing ballistic missile capability, he said.

Vienna - Eastern European leaders lapped up Barack Obama's pledge of a "new dawn" of US leadership and heaped praise on the president-elect, although some questioned his toughness toward Russia.

From the Baltics to Bulgaria, the ex-communist area that provided some of President George W Bush's most loyal European allies looked for even closer ties under Obama - minus the us-against-them tension of the last eight years.

"Barack Obama now faces immense tasks, and I place hopes on his youthful energy," Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Wednesday.

Brussels - NATO expects "ever stronger cooperation" from US president-elect Barak Obama at a crucial time for the transatlantic alliance, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Wednesday.

"Today's security challenges require an ever stronger cooperation and solidarity between Allies, and I look forward to the role the United States will continue to play in this regard under president-elect Obama's leadership," the NATO chief said in a statement.

Brussels - The head of the European Union's executive body on Wednesday congratulated Barack Obama on his victory in the United States presidential election and called on him to work with the EU to shape a "new deal for a new world".

"This is a time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the US. I want to assure Senator Obama of the support of the European Commission and of my personal support in forging this renewed commitment to face together the many challenges ahead of us," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

Berlin - Europeans turned the US elections into an all-night party with supporters of Barack Obama rewarded by news of his presidential win in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Across the continent, expatriates, political supporters or those who simply wanted to be part of history stayed up all night to watch election returns. People cast mock votes in Warsaw while Berliners partied with hula dancers, a call-out to Hawaii, the birthplace of president-elect Obama.

Brussels  - The French presidency of the European Union agreed Tuesday to scale back its ambitious 11-point plan on reforming global capitalism amid concerns that calls for a "global economic government" would encroach on national sovereignties.

The French proposal is meant to kickstart discussions on a common EU position ahead of a global financial summit due to take place in Washington on November 15.

At a preparatory meeting in Brussels, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said fellow EU ministers had shown "massive support" for the presidency's document, which outlines a series of key changes to the way global capitalism should be run.