Long pilloried by western Europeans, President Bush is now relishing the support of eastern Europeans, whose memory of tyranny makes them more sympathetic to his pro-democracy policies.
“I love being in a country that values liberty and freedom,” Bush exulted in a toast to Estonian President President Toomas Hendrik Ilves on Tuesday.
Ilves was even more effusive in his toast to Bush, alluding to America’s support for Estonia’s sovereignty through half a century of Soviet subjugation.
“The support of the United States for existence of the country of Estonia, through the seemingly endless years, when we thought we, indeed, had been forgotten by everyone,gives us the conviction to support the restoration or establishment of democracy in those parts of the world where it, too, seems but a dream,” he said through an interpreter.
It was a reference to the fact that Estonia now has troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our own past spurs us now to act as a country that is able to and wants to help others to create liberty,” said the U.S.-educated Ilves, wearing his trademark bow tie. “Our presence shows the doubters how far a people can go if you only give them freedom.”
This was music to the ears of Bush, who summed up the attitude of Estonians this way: “People shouldn’t have to live under tyranny. We just did that. We don’t like it.”
After leaving Estonia on Tuesday, Bush traveled to Latvia for the NATO summit and marveled that it was “the first time our alliance has met in one of the captive nations annexed by the Soviet Union.”
Without naming names, the president suggested that western Europeans and even many Americans lack the resolve of eastern Europeans when it comes to fostering freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I know some in my country and some here in Europe are pessimistic about the prospects of democracy and peace in the Middle East,” he said. “Here in the Baltic region, many understand that freedom is universal — and worth the struggle.”
