Günther Nonnenmacher on the unease of politicians in Eastern and Central Europe

Günther Nonnenmacher comments in the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the unease of politicians in Eastern and Central Europe about the new foreign policy of US President Barack Obama: "Landing in a political 'between Europe' is a historic trauma for the peoples and states of Central and Eastern Europe. It has often meant that major West European states have reached over their heads in seeking rapprochement with the Soviet Union and with Russia. In the phase when Moscow was weak before and after the end of communism America in particular supported the striving of countries in this region for freedom and independence. But now former statesmen fear their countries might be getting a bad deal security-wise because Obama is setting new foreign policy priorities. The passivity of the West following Russia's intervention in Georgia seems like a warning sign to them. As understandable as some of their worries are, the risk zones of world policy have moved to the Middle East, and the resources of a world power are limited too. Anyone who goes on cultivating old traumas risks missing the path to the future. The best way of anchoring America in Europe is to strengthen the EU as a transatlantic partner."

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