U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday called German Chancellor Angela Merkel to offer his congratulations on her wining second term of office in parliamentary election, Xinhua reported.
The latest exit poll results showed that Merkel's conservative bloc and the Free Democrats won 48.3 percent of votes in the general election, assuring the two parties of winning a clear majority to form a new coalition government.
Merkel's main challenger, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the center- left Social Democrats, admitted defeat soon after the exit polls were released, saying Sunday's election was a "defeat" for his party after hard campaigning.
In the phone conversation between Obama and Merkel, the two leaders agreed that "with the election of a strong German government, our cooperation will further strengthen and deepen," said the White House in a statement.
"The president looks forward to continued close cooperation with Chancellor Merkel to address our common challenges in the years ahead," said the statement.
Germany is a strong and reliable supporter to the U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan, providing some 3,500 military personnel to the NATO ISAF mission, making it the third-largest troop contributor after the United States and Britain, according to information offered by U.S. State Department.
Germany stands at the center of European affairs and is a key partner in U.S. relations with Europeans in NATO and the European Union. And as two of the world's leading trading nations, the United States and Germany share a common, deep-seated commitment to an open and expanding world economy.
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