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PARIS, May 6 (Reuters) - French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy pledged his commitment to Europe after his victory in Sunday's run-off election and said the United States could also rely on the friendship of France.

"I want to launch a call to our European partners, with whom our destiny is deeply linked, to tell them that I have been European all my life," Sarkozy told supporters in Paris. "Tonight France is back in Europe."

He said France would be a friend to the United States, with whom relations were strained by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but that there were differences in areas such as global warming that he would address.

"I want to tell them as well that friendship is accepting that one's friends can act differently, and that a great nation like the United States has the duty to not obstruct the fight against global warming but on the contrary to take the lead in this struggle because what is at stake is the future of all humanity."

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