That Big Moment for Czechs? Not So Big

[elleng]

'(T)he European-American summit meeting has been overshadowed by the collapse of the Czech government last week, during the country’s turn as president of the European Union. This has embarrassed Czechs and cast doubts on Prague’s ability to lead the world’s biggest trading bloc during difficult economic times.

The collapse, in the form of a vote of parliamentary no confidence, has also prompted national soul-searching as to why this young democracy allowed itself to politically implode on the eve of a visit by the American first couple, in whose reflected glory the country had hoped to bask.

“What should have been a moment of triumph in front of the world has become a moment of national humiliation,” said Tomas Sedlacek, a former economic adviser to Mr. Havel. . .

Yet in a nation where President Ronald Reagan remains the unrivaled hero of the Cold War, many here fear Mr. Obama is too soft on Russia and too willing to compromise. Last week, Mr. Topolanek reflected that view when he described Mr. Obama’s economic stimulus package as “a way to hell.”

Martin Kotas, 34, a bar owner and staunch supporter of Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, recalled that he had literally cried into his beer the night Mr. Obama was elected president. “We don’t want to be under the influence of Putin’s Russia and we don’t want socialism,” he said.

Mr. Kotas said he worried that Mr. Obama, after completing a review of American security policy, would abandon plans to install a missile-defense radar system in the Czech Republic. The proposed system has polarized Czech society, but many nevertheless view it as an essential bulwark against Russia.

“I am worried that people are projecting all of their hopes onto Obama, that they are hypnotized by him,” Mr. Kotas said. His overriding fear, he added, was that Mr. Obama would “lead the world on a path of appeasement.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/world/europe/04czech.html?ref=global-home

[theoldman]

1. I hope this guy, Kotas, does not lose too much sleep.

I would not waste a good beer by crying into it.