US allies in eastern Europe weigh Obama victory

Nov 5, 2008, 8:55 GMT

Prague - Eastern European leaders congratulated US president-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday, but some allies appeared cautious about America's shift to the left.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek invited Obama to Prague, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a deal in July to place part of a US missile defence radar in the ex-communist nation.

Obama's victory 'does not change relations' between Washington and Prague, said Topolanek, a centre-right leader and one of President George W Bush's strongest allies in the former Warsaw Pact area.

He seemed to add a note of caution about where the newly elected Democrat will take the United States after his landslide win on a soaring message of change.

'Barack Obama has raised many expectations in his election campaign regarding solutions to domestic and world problems,' Topolanek said in a statement.

'The whole world will now watch with suspense how he fulfills his promises.'

NATO members Poland and Czech Republic this summer reached deals with the Bush administration on hosting US bases for tracking a ballistic missile attack, strengthening military ties with the US.

While the Pentagon says the shield will defend against threats by 'rogue states' like Iran, Russia has vehemently opposed the missile shield as a threat to its nuclear missile deterrent. Many Poles and Czechs also oppose the planned bases.

In Kosovo, where the ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia in February with Bush administration backing, President Fatmir Sejdiu congratulated Obama.

'The US election model showed how a popular vote can choose the most important man in the world,' he said. 'We appreciate the role the US had and will have for Kosovo.'

In Slovenia, the only former Yugoslav republic to join NATO and the European Union, President Danilo Turk welcomed Obama as someone he looks forward to working with.

'Facing the increasingly global challenges of the modern world requires mutual understanding, trust and partnership,' said Turk, a former UN official.