Paris - European commentators said yesterday that the US election results had strengthened Mr Clinton's troubled presidency and Washington's global leadership.
The French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine, asked how the vote would affect US foreign policy, said it would strengthen Mr Clinton's hand and assure continuity in Washington.
"Clinton's mandate runs for another two years and we can continue to work with a partner we know well," the Socialist Minister said.
"The situation is more predictable than it would have been if there had been big changes in these elections. We know the foreign policy of President Clinton and (Secretary of State Ms Madeleine) Albright. We know what ground we're on," he told French television station LCI.
As for the Republican-led drive to impeach Mr Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, Sorbonne University history professor Andre Kaspi said the elections outcome made it likely that Congress would now work out a compromise short of impeachment.
Ms Marianne van Leeuwen of the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch institute of international relations, said it was too simple to explain the results as merely a vote of confidence in Mr Clinton.
"It means the American public is totally fed up with the Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment. It is remarkable that the Democrats have gained seats - normally the presidential party loses in these elections."
Several analysts said Americans had voted for centrist policies rather than to endorse Mr Clinton's personal behaviour.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, a strong supporter of the embattled US leader, had telephoned Mr Clinton on Tuesday night to congratulate him on the results, a Blair aide said.
"The American people reacted in a very thoughtful and mature fashion," said Ms Dominique Moisi of the Paris-based French Institute of Foreign Relations. "They are disappointed in the President but overall his programme pleases them."