DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: American's choice of the next president could affect our relationship with Europe.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Hugh Carnegy, of the "Financial Times," joins us now from the "FT"'s London newsroom. And Hugh, Wall Street is, in some ways, hoping for some continued gridlock, it's been very good for the marketplace. Same too for Europe?</s>HUGH CARNEGY, WORLD NEWS EDITOR, "FINANCIAL TIMES": Yes, I think that's right. The divided executive and Congress would keep things stable and leave the Fed ruling the roost. I think one of the main concerns at this end is what will happen on the currency front. If George W. Bush wins, there's this feeling that interest rates may go higher, he's perceived to have a slightly looser fiscal stance, and that could be strong for the dollar and weak for the already very weak euro. So that's one special concern on the side of the pond.</s>MARCHINI: A question from a political standpoint: Is Europe concerned about Gov. Bush's pronouncements on U.N. peacekeepers in Eastern Europe?</s>CARNEGY: Yes, I don't think this is something to overplay too much, but clearly, there is a bit of concern that the whole Republican stance is more isolationist than the Democratic stance, and that mentions from Bush's camp that they might pull troops, U.S. troops out of Kosovo, for example, and particularly the strength of support for the national missile defense program on the Republican side causes some concern in Europe because those are issues which would be very, very negative from a European point of view.</s>HAFFENREFFER: All right, Hugh Carnegy, at the "Financial Times," thanks for joining us.
'Financial Times': Bush's Possible Effect on Currency a Concern for Europe