By Sarah Maslin Nir

BERLIN — Some were valedictory, praising a US president’s legacy. Others lauded the courage they said it took to walk away from power. But a few world leaders struck another note over President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election: trepidation.

“I am keeping my fingers crossed for the USA that a good president emerges from the democratic competition of two strong and equal candidates,” said the prime minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala.

With its outsize effect on governments large and small, US presidential politics is closely watched around the world, but perhaps never more so than this year. As if the prospect of a Donald Trump redux presidency had not preoccupied foreign leaders enough, there was another urgent question of recent weeks: Would Biden even stay in the race?

On Sunday (21), he gave his answer, throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, a political figure who, unlike Biden, lacks a long history of involvement in US foreign diplomacy.

In Germany, where Trump’s antipathy toward the NATO alliance and somewhat impenetrable stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine have raised anxiety, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed notably toward Biden’s starkly different approach from Trump’s isolationist bent.

“Thanks to him, trans-Atlantic cooperation is close, NATO is strong and the USA is a good and reliable partner for us,” Scholz said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he respected Biden’s “tough but strong” decision and thanked him for his “unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed that sentiment Monday (22). Biden has “been a magnificent supporter of democracy around the world,” Albanese said in an interview with his country’s national broadcaster. He cited “the struggle of the people of Ukraine” as well as “the presence of the United States in the Indo-Pacific,” where many countries are concerned about China’s rise.

The leaders of Japan and South Korea, key American allies in Asia, said they would not comment on domestic US politics. The office of South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk-yeol, said it believed there was bipartisan support in the United States for the countries’ alliance, and that his government would “continue to cooperate closely with the United States” to further it.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that Biden had “wanted to make the best political decision”. He added, “The US-Japan alliance is, needless to say, the axis for Japan’s diplomacy and security, and I will watch the further developments.”

Foreign leaders did not wade directly into the morass now facing the Democratic Party, veiling any concerns they had after the bombshell announcement. Many opted instead for congratulations and statements of empathy for an 81-year-old leader who reached the pinnacle of power only to find it nearing an end earlier than he had hoped.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised Biden for “making the world safer, and democracy and freedom stronger” throughout his career, including by deciding not to run.

“I know that you were guided by the same principles when announcing your latest decision — perhaps the most difficult one in your life,” he said.

Keir Starmer, the newly installed British prime minister, said he respected the decision. “I know that, as he has done throughout his remarkable career, President Biden will have made his decision based on what he believes is in the best interests of the American people,” he said in a statement.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, speaking to Reuters, noted that the American president “justifies the decision by saying that he wants to put the country before himself” and said “that reasoning commands respect”.

In Ireland, Simon Harris, the taoiseach, or prime minister, on Sunday evening called Biden “a voice for reason” and “a proud American with an Irish soul.” He wrote of a visit that Biden made to Ireland last year, which the president had described as “like coming home”.

“The outpouring of love and support from the public, even in the pouring Irish rain,” Harris wrote, “Was a testament to how highly the president is held in his ancestral home.”

Biden’s response elicited a predictably less effusive response from Russia, which has regularly and stridently denounced US military backing for Ukraine in the war.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said achieving its aims in its war was more important for Russia than the results of US elections. He said that “much could still change” before the vote in November, according to state news agencies.

“We need to be patient and see what happens next,” Peskov said.

-New York Times