Vienna - Eastern European leaders lapped up Barack Obama's
pledge of a 'new dawn' of US leadership and heaped praise on the
president-elect, although some questioned his toughness toward
Russia.
From the Baltics to Bulgaria, the ex-communist area that provided
some of President George W Bush's most loyal European allies looked
for even closer ties under Obama - minus the us-against-them tension
of the last eight years.
'Barack Obama now faces immense tasks, and I place hopes on his
youthful energy,' Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said
Wednesday.
In Poland, which like the Czech Republic has bonds with the United
States reaching back decades, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said he
was happy that Americans felt good about themselves again.
'It's like a fairy tale,' he said of Obama's rise to the
presidency. 'That opens a new chapter in their history, and something
that makes them feel they can again feel proud as Americans.'
Expectations immediately ran high. Leaders of the Baltic nations
made plain that they expect Obama to stand up to Russia. Albania and
Croatia, two Balkan nations headed into the NATO military alliance,
enthused about his potential as a leader.
Kosovo, its independence from Serbia assured by US backing, gave a
hearty thumbs-up. President Fatmir Sejdiu called Obama the 'most
important man in the world' and said he was counting on US support
for the impoverished, ethnically fragile new nation.
Leaders in south-eastern NATO members Bulgaria and Romania said
they want to bolster the strategic partnership with Washington. Both
countries have been key US military partners since the September 11
terrorist attacks.
Even Serbian politicians, yearning to end isolation brought on by
Serbia's role in the 1990s Balkan wars, said they hope that ties with
the US will improve once Obama takes office on January 20.
Governments across the region seemed to hope for a new style of
US leadership by a president who is not despised by a large chunk of
local voters.
Central and Eastern Europeans largely favoured Obama, a Democrat,
in Tuesday's election over his more conservative, older rival John
McCain, a Republican.
A key issue for Obama in Poland and Czech Republic is the missile
defence system that both governments agreed this year to let the
Pentagon install. It would set create the first US military bases in
the two former Soviet-bloc nations.
Obama has said he supports the missile shield as long as he's
convinced it works. Parliaments on both countries have yet to approve
the basing deals.
Slawomir Nowak, a top aide to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk,
said he doesn't expect an Obama administration to make 'fundamental
changes' to the agreement.
'The agreements have been signed, so it only remains to realize
those agreements,' Nowak told Poland's national news agency. 'But of
course president Obama will have the deciding voice.'
In Prague, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek - a Bush ally who
staunchly supports US missile defence - insisted that Obama's victory
'does not change relations' between the two nations.
While the US says the shield will defend against a growing
ballistic missile threat from Iran, Moscow has angrily opposed the
system.
Russia's war with Georgia this summer further stirred fear of
Moscow in its former satellites. In that context, a conservative
Polish opposition leader wondered whether Obama is tough enough.
McCain is 'exceptionally hard' in relations with Moscow, but
nobody says that about Obama, said Law and Justice party head
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Poland's president.
Andris, a commuter on his way to work in the Latvian capital Riga,
had a different worry: the slump in the once-roaring Baltic
economies.
'I don't care about America - we have our own problems right here.
I am more worried about whether I will still have a job next year,'
he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story