BRATISLAVA - President George W. Bush won an enthusiastic welcome in Slovakia on Thursday, the first warm public reception of his European tour, underscoring a divide within Europe between the west and newly democratic east. The contrast could not have been greater between Germany, where Bush's visit drew 12,000 protesters on Wednesday, and Slovakia, where a crowd of about 4,000 braved blowing snow to cheer and applaud during an open-air speech. Bush then took his first plunge into a crowd on the last day of a five-day European tour and was swamped by enthusiastic Slovaks for several minutes as he made his way off the old town square.

"He's the head of the world's superpower. In my opinion, it is good for Slovakia to be friends with such a big and strong country," said Stefan Ilavsky, 45, a clerk who took a six-hour train trip from eastern Slovakia to be at the speech. "We were pleased that he and America realised the importance of our Velvet Revolution," said a student named Petra, referring to Bush's praise for pro-democracy protests that ended communist rule in what was then Czechoslovakia.

A handful of protesters at the back of the square held up anti-Iraq war banners and Greenpeace environmental activists also demonstrated nearby. But the bulk of the crowd roared repeated approval when Bush praised Slovaks for ending communism at home and helping what he called the fight for liberty abroad by sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. They also cheered loudly when Bush promised to work on easing visa requirements for visits to the United States, a top demand from Slovakia and other eastern states, whose citizens face more stringent visa rules than western European tourists.

Bush was in Bratislava for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin after a European tour aimed at patching up differences over the Iraq war. Slovakia is part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq that includes much of eastern Europe, while Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was a leader of European Union opposition to the war to oust Saddam Hussein. Bush's strongest European support in Iraq has come from former Soviet bloc states like Slovakia as well as Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary, most of whom are now members of NATO and the European Union.

Reuters