Stockholm - Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Friday that US President Barack Obama - winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize - had reached out with his message "of hope and change."

"Obama is in the beginning of his presidency and this says something about our expectations of him," Reinfeldt added, saying the US president was "a person who has great possibilities to influence the climate issue, among other issues."

Sweden is the current holder of the rotating presidency of the European Union. The 27-nation bloc is pushing for a new international deal on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in Copenhagen in December. (dpa)