Obama 'Doesn't Care' about Eastern Europe, Claims Analyst

Edward Lucas, Eastern Europe correspondent of The Economist, claims that US President Obama is not interested in eastern Europe. Photo by vm.ee

From EurActiv.com

by Michal Hudek

US President Barack Obama sees Eastern Europe as a "Bush administration project" and is not conscious of the need to counter growing Russian influence there.

Edward Lucas, who has been The Economist's correspondent for Eastern Europe for over 20 years, says that the new Russian concept of "security architecture" in Europe implies the establishment of a condominium in Europe between Russia and the big European countries, excluding the United States and overriding the interests of small EU countries.

Lucas sees the role of NATO as diminished and less reassuring for its new members from Central and Eastern Europe.

"One of the dreadful consequences of the [August 2008] war in Georgia was that it showed how divided the EU and NATO are in their dealings with Russia," he says, adding that Article 5 of Atlantic alliance's treaty, which promises a collective response to aggression, has lost credibility.

"I think that the problem with Obama is that he does not really care about Eastern Europe; that his advisers basically see Eastern Europe as a Bush administration project," the author argues.

Asked if there was a risk of war between Russia and Ukraine, Lucas said that he did not expect "a big war" to be waged by Russia, because the country's capabilities, as he put it, allowed it to attack countries that are 1/30 of its size. However, he noted that the future of the Sevastopol naval base in the Crimea, which Russia rents from Ukraine and the lease of which expires in 2017, is a risk factor.

As for gas transit tensions between Moscow and Kiev, Lucas says that the essence of the crisis is a shortage of gas, because in his words there will not be enough gas if demand in Europe increases. Another reason, as he sees it, is that bad management and corruption is rife within Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.

Edward Lucas is the author of ‘The new Cold War’, published in 2008. In it, the author correctly predicted the Russia-Georgia war.

For the full interview click HERE

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