'New' Europe Doesn't Trust 'Old' Europe
Much as I suspected, Eastern Europe mistrusts France and Germany to protect their best interests.
People in Central and Eastern Europe do not trust West Europeans - the French in particular - to protect their interests. A Czech minister this week declared, "After the experience of the 1930s, don't talk to us about French guarantees".Central European officials have taken to talking about "appeasement" - the policy of accommodating Nazi Germany pursued by France and Britain in the run-up to World War II - usually at the expense of Germany's immediate eastern neighbours.
Furthermore, the Eastern Europeans who are against the war seem to recognize that there are better reasons to be against it than "We don't like how the Americans are handling it."
Comments
Perhaps "New Europe" (when did that expression come into play? It took me a while to figure out what it was when I first heard it) can't afford to have an independent opinion on much these days. In fact, I'm surprised Russia is taking the position it is and wonder just who is greasing the wheels there...China?
Posted by: Jane | February 24, 2003 08:21 AM