Originally published on the CGS blog on May 26, 2010.
As the United States works to pursue a “reset” of relations with Russia, culminating in the recent signing of the New START treaty, what does this new bond mean for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (the CEEs) and their relationship with the U.S.? This was among the questions addressed by Czech Republic Senator Alexandr Vondra during his presentation at the Atlantic Council on May 24th, as he discussed his county’s view on the future of transatlantic cooperation.
Sen. Vondra described himself as “optimistic” about the relationship between the U.S. and Central and Eastern Europe. However, he noted that several difficult test lie ahead:
- U.S. world leadership is currently overstretched;
- Europe is going through financial and political hardship;
- NATO is redefining its region, while at the same time Russia is becoming more active and assertive;
- China, Brazil, and other rising powers are making their impact felt;
- fear of terrorism and nuclear proliferation continues; and
- human rights are being violated, in Vondra’s words, even in NATO’s own neighborhood.
Sen. Vondra said it was a good thing that, since throwing off the yoke of Communism and becoming members of NATO and the European Union (EU) in the past several years, Central and Eastern Europe is no longer in the spotlight of U.S. foreign policy as it once was. However, the period of 2008-9 brought a number of geopolitical changes which impacted the transatlantic relationship. Vondra asserted that the U.S. has recently been relying on traditional rivals, such as Russia, in its foreign policy, and while such “ad hoc” alliances can be helpful, the United States should not take staunch allies such as the CEE countries for granted while reaching out to other nations.
Sen. Vondra recommended several foreign policy goals the U.S. and Central and Eastern Europe can work towards together in the aftermath of the “Prague agenda” to reduce nuclear weapons. These included Afghanistan, the future of NATO, energy security, and the Eastern Partnership, in which countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, and the Caucuses nations are brought economically closer to the West. In closing, Vondra stressed that the transatlantic relationship between the United States and Europe is an “indispensible” one, and that the tremendous achievements of the last twenty years in Europe “should not be wasted.”
