President Tarja Halonen added her voice to the swelling flood of messages being sent to the new President-elect of the United States Barack Obama on Wednesday morning, shortly after it became clear that Obama and his Democrat Vice-Presidential running mate Joseph Biden had triumphed in the elections held on Tuesday.
Halonen's short formal congratulatory message noted that: "...relations between Finland and the United States have always been excellent. I am sure that your election to the Presidency will further strengthen the relations between our two countries and peoples".
Senator Obama won a resounding victory over his Republican opponent John McCain, so bringing to an end eight years of Republican rule in the White House, during which time Halonen's visits to Washington DC have been conspicuous by their absence.
