Delighted Kohl hopes Britain will now play a more constructive role within Europe

FOR Germany, Mr Blair's land slide election victory represents a long awaited opportunity to improve relations between Bonn and London and to persuade Britain to play a more constructive role within the EU.

The German Chancellor Dr Kohl, who has been visiting Brunei, was clearly delighted by the result and was quick to blame Conservative Europhobia for the panty's humiliation at the polls.

"This is an overwhelming mandate for the new government," he said.

"Voters did not like the anti European rhetoric of the past few days and weeks and this should be a lesson for all those who want to win votes with anti European polemics," he added.

Dr Kohl hopes to meet Mr Blair within the next two weeks, and, as a politician who often uses personal friendship to promote his diplomatic goals, he will attempt to establish a rapport with the new Prime Minister as soon as possible.

The late French president, Francois Mitterrand, and the former Spanish prime minister, Mr Felipe Gonzalez, both socialists, were Dr Kohl's closest allies in Europe.

He never succeeded in charming Lady Thatcher, and, although his relationship with Mr Major started well, it was irretrievably damaged by Britain's policy of obstruction during the BSE crisis.

Although Bonn is confident that relations with London will improve under Mr Blair, the government knows that change will be slow.

"Nobody expects a miracle or a dramatic change in policy. Blair will defend Britain's sovereignty as vehemently as the Tories. But there is a certain hope of a more friendly climate for discussion," said one official.

German politicians acknowledge that British opposition to further European integration is not confined to the right wing fringe of the Conservative Party.

But they calculate that a Labour government will avoid unnecessary conflicts with Britain's EU partners even if it opposes some of the integrationist schemes close to Dr Kohl's heart.

The new Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, appeared to confirm this analysis on Monday when he told the weekly magazine Focus that Labour's attitude to Europe was starkly different to that of the Conservatives.

Despite its public display of indifference during the British election campaign, the Bonn government has been shocked by the anti German tone of the Conservative campaign. It was particularly offended by the advertisement showing Mr Blair sitting on Dr Kohl's knee.

Mr Cook suggested that Labour was eager to tone down the rhetoric and to place bilateral relations on a more pragmatic footing, within the context of a reformed EU.

"Germany has played a new geopolitical role since reunification. We ought to build a sensibly structured and efficient Union that binds Germany within it. If Europe were to revert to individual nation states, Britain would be more likely to have problems with Germany," he said.

If Dr Kohl was pleased at Mr Blair's victory, the opposition Social Democrats were ecstatic, arguing that, if it is time for a change in Britain, the Chancellor's reign may be drawing to a close too.