Luxembourg, German, Dutch ministers hope for Obama win

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Luxembourg's prime minister and the German and Dutch finance ministers backed Democrat Barack Obama to win the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.

Germany's Peer Steinbrueck shouted "Obama" and Wouter Bos of the Netherlands laughed as he mouthed "Obama" to reporters who asked them which candidate they preferred before a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup, said: "Had I been American I would have voted in favor of Obama."

A Harris Interactive survey last month showed respondents in the five largest European countries were unanimous in wanting to see Obama defeat Republican John McCain.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declined to state a preference in an interview with Al-Arabiya television during a trip to the Gulf.

"I think whatever the result of the American election... history has been made in this campaign -- the women coming to the fore, a black candidate coming to the fore. But it is for the American people to decide, it is their decision," he said.

Juncker said he did not expect a major change in relations between the United States and Europe whoever wins the election.

"The next American president, although taking better into account European interests, will put more responsibilities on the European shoulders," he told journalists at the European parliaments.

"After January, the European Union will have to stop having Mr Bush as an excuse."

European Union foreign ministers meeting in the French city of Marseille on Monday did not say who they would prefer to deal with next in Washington.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the EU had prepared a letter for the next U.S. president, seeking more involvement for the 27-nation bloc in resolving world problems.

(Reporting by Anna Willard and Huw Jones; Editing by Timothy Heritage)