Losing The New Europe

Throughout the transatlantic marital spat over Iraq, Central Europeans have remained friendly to the United States. The new democracies risked the wrath of France and Germany, whose favors they need as they enter the European Union, and they backed up their words with deeds. Polish special forces have fought in the port of Umm Kasr and in more than 60 operations since. Yesterday Poland suffered its first casualty...this may be the last emergency in which it can count on Central European support. .....it would be a mistake to think that they shared all of the United States' concerns about Iraq. While many in the region have sympathy with human rights arguments, most never felt threatened by Saddam Hussein, and they were skeptical of intelligence reports about his weapons of mass destruction...They hoped their participation would produce feelings of reciprocal commitment: Surely, most believed, the United States would want to show that it pays to be America's friend.

Now it seems that Central Europeans will be disappointed. Six months after the invasion, companies from the region are still on the sidelines as U.S. giants move in. Poland and Bulgaria used to employ tens of thousands of people in Iraq, building roads, factories and electricity grids. Both had hoped that by siding with the United States they could recover some of the billions of dollars Iraq had never paid them for their work. Instead, they are being pressured to write off the money, even though the debt is several times bigger in proportion to their gross domestic products than what Iraq owed the United States. .
But even more upsetting to Central Europeans is the way they are treated by the U.S. visa process. If we are such good allies, they ask, why can't we enter the United States without visas, as the French or the Germans? ...

As of next year, Western Europe's pull in Central Europe will multiply. Millions of motorists will see signs marking EU-financed infrastructure projects; millions of farmers will get EU agricultural subsidy checks in the mail; and tens of thousands of journalists, scientists and academics will become eligible for EU grants. If the United States wants to remain a player, it better get into the game...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10314-2003Nov6.html