Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush had lost midterm elections mainly because of his policy on Iraq, according to the local media report.

Asked in a radio interview whether the issue had been crucial in the way Americans voted on Tuesday, Prodi answered: "Basically yes. There were a few domestic policy problems but also the ones deriving from the war in Iraq."

Bush's Republican party was swept from dominance in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years and was close to losing control of the Senate.

Prodi said the election result would probably boost a trend towards international collaboration and away from U.S. unilateralism.

"We'll see a continuation of the way things are already going now: less friction and greater collaboration with Europe, as there has been in recent months," Prodi added.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema agreed with Prodi that the Democrats' victory could mark a new phase in transatlantic relations.

"The message from the United States is that policy must change. A cycle has come to an end - the cycle of preventive wars and unilateralism has ended so unsuccessfully and that's how the American public sees it," D'Alema said.

Source: Xinhua