04/11/2004 00:00
TW
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“NEW Europe” allies of the United States urged President George Bush yesterday to start his second term by reaching out to his European critics and restoring Euro-Atlantic unity. “The ball is in Bush's court -he needs to reach out to the Europeans,” Janusz Reiter of the Warsaw-based International Relations Centre said. “A lot depends on who will be on his new team.” Several new and prospective European Union members from the former Communist East had sided with Britain and Italy rather than Iraq war-critics Germany and France in backing Bush's invasion of the Arab country. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania have sent troops.

Their support has aggravated divisions within the EU just as it expanded to embrace them after decades of communism. It put the newcomers in the awkward position of having their loyalty split between Washington and big European allies. Poland, the biggest newcomer and the only EU country where the majority of the population rooted for Bush, voiced confidence that he had learnt from past mistakes in his handling of the Europeans. “We can expect changes in his attitude,” Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said. “(We expect) that he will want good relations with the whole of Europe, that he will no longer split it into 'old Europe' and 'new Europe'.” U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld angered Germany and France in June 2003 when he dismissively described them as part of what he called an “old Europe” that stood in contrast to a “new Europe” of U.S. allies.

Many central Europeans found his remarks flattering at the time. But they also were alarmed to see the tough U.S. line erode the unity of the West, which many saw as a key factor in bringing down communism just over a decade ago.

SECOND THOUGHTS ON IRAQ
Mounting chaos in Iraq and growing public opposition to the war there has had an additional sobering effect on many central European governments. Hungary barely waited for the election to be over to announce it would pull its 300 troops out by March next year, the first “new Europe” nation to set a firm withdrawal date. Defence Minister Ference Juhasz said Hungary made the announcement yesterday so as not to turn the withdrawal into a U.S. election issue. Budapest nonetheless vowed to do its best to bring the United States and Europe onto the same track again. “Hungary's main aim will be to tackle the misunderstandings and conflicts over the Iraqi situation and to restore cooperation,” Foreign Minister Ferenc Somgyi said, in remarks echoed by other government figures in the region. Commentators said there were clear signs Paris and Berlin were ready to patch up relations with the United States but it was up to Bush to take the first step. Europeans will closely watch the line-up of any new Bush cabinet to see whether officials viewed as hostile to Europe, such as Rumsfeld, keep their jobs, some said.