Obama presses Europe on Afghanistan in Berlin

By Noah Barkin and Caren Bohan

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama urged Europe to stand by the United States in stabilizing Afghanistan in a speech to over 200,000 in Berlin that stressed the need for unity in the face of new threats.

Speaking at the Victory Column in the central Tiergarten park on Thursday, the Democratic senator said America had no better partner than Europe but cautioned both sides against turning inward.

"I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan," Obama said. "But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone."

Broad in scope, the speech was aimed not only at European audiences but also U.S. voters who face a choice in the November 4 election between Obama and Republican John McCain.

McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, is an Arizona senator who has long been an influential voice on foreign policy and military matters.

He is making national security a central focus of his campaign and contends that Obama, a 46-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, lacks the foreign affairs seasoning to serve as commander-in-chief.

Obama has aimed to dispel that notion with a seven-nation tour this week that has taken him to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel and Germany, where he is highly popular.

The German media has likened his visit to that of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, whose "Ich bin ein Berliner" address shortly after the building of the Berlin Wall became an iconic moment of the Cold War.