Bratislava, Slovakia; 24 February 2005 (RFE/RL) -- As expected, President Bush received the warmest reception of his European tour in Slovakia -- part of what U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last year termed the "new Europe." Despite the cold and snowy weather, thousands of Slovaks turned out on one of Bratislava's main squares to hear the U.S. president speak words of admiration for their country's transition from communism to a fully fledged democracy. On his previous stops in Brussels and Mainz, Germany, Bush addressed politicians and carefully selected audiences at indoor events as he tried to smooth over rifts in...
