Obama’s Neglect of Central and Eastern Europe Doesn’t Impress Young Leaders

Morgan Lorraine Roach / November 17, 2010

The United States no longer considers relations with Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) a top priority. This was one of the recurring themes at the Young Leaders Dialogue with America conference last week in Prague.

Irena Kalhousova, chief analyst at Prague’s Security Studies Institute, lamented that President Barack Obama ignores CEE and cast doubt on the certainty of transatlantic partnership. Indeed, the Administration’s brazen cancellation of the third site missile defense program last year, with radar stations in the Czech Republic and missile interceptors in Poland, was “a slap in the face for those who actually believed a key agreement with Washington was worth the paper it was written on.” Though the radar stations were unpopular with the Czech public, many Czech parliamentarians who vigorously advocated for the stations suffered at the polls the following election. (more…)