Lisbon - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates on Wednesday described US president-elect Barack Obama as giving "an opportunity of change to the United States and the world."

"The voice of Barack Obama is a voice of hope," Socrates said in his congratulatory message to the new US president.

Obama's victory "represents possibilities for a new cycle of relations between the United States and Europe in the service of peace, cooperation and of a fairer and more regulated globalization," the Portuguese premier said. (dpa)