Acid test for Obama and Europe

The New York correspondent for the daily Dnevnik sees Barack Obama's visit to Europe as the acid test for the new US president and the Old Continent: "The first signals (the long wait of the French and Germans for an invitation to the White House, the inappropriate reception of [British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown in Washington) show that Obama attaches less importance to the Old Continent than expected. For its part Europe has shown no willingness to play a more active role in 'Obama's most important war' in Afghanistan now that George W. Bush is no longer sitting in the White House. Moreover, the two sides are completely at odds about rescue measures to deal with the financial crisis. Just a couple of days ago German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in the New York Times that despite friendly relations foreign policy is always the defence of one's own state's interests. It speaks volumes that she said this just before Obama's visit takes place."

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