US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is making a brief visit to Paris on his world tour ahead of the November election.
He flies into the French capital a day after a public speech in Berlin, where he called for a renewed US partnership with Europe.
He was applauded by a crowd of 200,000 in scenes reminiscent of a pop concert.
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The visit to Paris will last just a few hours, a fact noted by French reporters contrasting it to the long day he spent in Berlin, where he met German leaders before making his speech in the central Tiergarten Park, a venue for big public festivities.
Like in Germany, the US Democratic contender enjoys high public ratings in France.
US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain met Mr Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in March.
A spokesman for the Arizona senator has accused Mr Obama of turning his tour into a "premature victory lap".
Praise from Sarkozy
Earlier, Mr Sarkozy said he had always believed his "friend" Mr Obama would clinch the Democratic presidential nomination.
"Unlike my diplomatic advisers, I never believed in Hillary Clinton's chances," he told the French newspaper Le Figaro.
"He's my friend. I'm the only one in France who knows him."
The French leader said he had "a very good memory" of their first encounter at the US Congress in 2006.
The two politicians are due to meet in Paris soon after Mr Obama touches down in the city's Le Bourget airport.
A joint news conference is expected, after which Mr Obama will leave for London.
Global challenges
In his speech in Berlin, Mr Obama said the US and Europe had "drifted apart and forgotten [their] shared destiny".
He warned that neither could afford to be isolated in the face of challenges such as terrorism and global warming.
"While the 20th Century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history," Mr Obama said.
"In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common.
"In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future," he added.
"But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together."
Mr Obama said partnership and co-operation among nations was "not a choice", but "the only way to protect our common security and advance our common humanity".
Mr Obama's tour will end in London on Saturday, when he will hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, opposition Conservative leader David Cameron and the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
(BBC)
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