Zbyněk Petráček on an open letter to Barack Obama

Seven ex-presidents from Central and Eastern Europe have warned US President Barack Obama in an open letter not to forget Central and Eastern Europe in the interest of cultivating good relations with Russia. Writing in the daily Lidové Noviny Zbyněk Petráček says this reminds him of 1968, when the Czechslovak reform government under Alexander Dubček appealed to the masses: "We are with you, please be with us!" "There is something of this atmosphere in the letter the former Central and Eastern European leaders have sent to Barack Obama. ... We were with you [the US] (in Kosovo, in Iraq, in Afghanistan), which cost our governments some of their popularity. Today they [these former governments] are unhappy because a generation of politicians has come to power who have not shared their experiences and who are pursuing a 'more realistic' policy. ... We want to be sure that [the US's] attempts at rapprochement will not lead to concessions vis-a-vis Russia. We are with you, but please also be with us. That is how one should read the letter to Obama. ... It is good that the Central Europeans are drawing attention to themselves with a common voice."

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