PARIS - Europe's newspapers voiced anxiety and dread as they mulled the future of America, Europe and the world according to who wins the cliffhanger US presidential vote, dubbed the "mother of all elections."

"The world holds its breath," says Italy's La Repubblica, as American voters were set to head to the polls to choose between incumbent George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry.

Austria's popular Krone daily warned "the mother of all elections" was set to throw "our world either into a calmer future or into new military adventures."

"Good luck, America," says Berlin's left-wing Tageszeitung above an image of a slot machine. "American voters today decide their future and that of the entire world."

Papers across the continent voiced fears of a repeat of the vote-counting debacle of the equally close 2000 presidential race whose result was delayed for five weeks until the Supreme Court finally awarded victory to Bush.

Many papers lamented that the election was restricted to US voters.

The Bild daily in Germany joked over how foreign leaders would vote if they could. Backing the "cowboy" (Bush) would be Italian and British prime ministers Silvio Berlusconi and Tony Blair, Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, it said.

Even German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would vote for Bush, it said, arguing that the US leader helped the anti-war chancellor get re-elected in 2002, and "that could work again in 2006".

For the "gentleman" (Kerry), the paper listed Blair's wife Cherie, Pope John Paul II, French President Jacques Chirac, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

The latter "is counting on the indulgence of Kerry, who was against the war," Bild said.

The Flemish-language Belgian business magazine De Tijd said Bin Laden's menacing video address to US voters last week was aimed at boosting the incumbent's chances. "With Bush in the White House, Al-Qaeda doesn't need a propaganda department. The American army is taking care of (Al-Qaeda's) recruitment."

The Moscow daily Vremia Novostei offered its own twist: "An invisible revolution has occurred in Russian foreign policy: For the first time the Kremlin backs the Republicans. ... Our experts believe that the pragmatic Republicans are preferable for Russia, while the Democrats keep giving us conferences on human rights."

France's left-leaning Liberation, noting that the United States had been spared a pre-election "October surprise" terror attack akin to the Madrid bombings in March, wrote that the election would surely see other surprises.

"If there is a 'November 2 surprise', it will come from the legions of new voters, most of them young, who have perhaps escaped the notice of pollsters. Or from the mobilization of voters who in previous years stayed home," it said.

Britain's Daily Telegraph said America's awakened electorate should be a source of envy, asking: "How much would the framers of the new EU constitution give to see this level of political interest in the next round of European elections?

"If only we had the 'problem'... of voters joining others in heated political debate and volunteering for grassroots political activism."

The fiercely anti-war Independent appealed to voters across the Atlantic: "In a contest between faith and reason, America must vote for Mr. Kerry and offer hope for the world."

Austria's conservative Die Presse said "the Americans would be doing the world a big favor" by voting Bush out.

The Swiss daily Le Temps did not predict much change in the United States whoever wins, but said Americans faced a "moral choice."

"In the face of the incessant fearmongering, the arrogance and the incompetence so often displayed by George Bush and his entourage, you can at least bet that the Democratic candidate will reduce the fear striking the heart of America and restore a little reason and dignity."

In Spain, The center-left El Pais daily lamented that the Middle East conflict was "not even the uninvited guest in the US electoral campaign."

To Vima, the mouthpiece of Greece's socialist opposition, was also skeptical of change whoever wins. "To the extent that the foreign policy of the United States is determined only by the interests of the country, it is naive to expect a 'new policy' in the Middle East, the Balkans or towards Greece and Turkey," it said.

The Czech daily Dnes was ambivalent: A Bush victory "will deepen anti-American feeling both in Europe and in Muslim countries. That will not help the world feel safer." If Kerry wins, though, "all the dark forces of world terrorism led by Al-Qaeda will rejoice in Bush's defeat. ... (But) the terrorists will believe that America and Europe are weak, and this is not good news for world security either."

© 2004 AFP

###