BRATISLAVA: As the US and Britain look to the spoils of the war in Iraq, some of the countries which backed the coalition campaign against Saddam Hussein’s regime are looking for their chance to bid for rebuilding contracts.

Many leaders in central and eastern Europe who openly supported the military action in Iraq without a United Nations mandate, now expect reward for that support.

President George W. Bush has promised some leaders money, and a role in helping rebuild Iraq. But some analysts say a stronger relationship with the US will be prized as much as opportunities in reconstruction.

“The question of support was not a matter of calculation,” says Alexander Duleba, foreign policy expert at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.”That would be a very superficial position to take. Whether or not there will be a couple of million dollars for backing the action against Iraq, or whether firms from these countries get some reconstruction contracts in Iraq were a long way down the list of reasons such a stance was taken.”

The countries of central Europe, such as Slovakia, acted in their national interest “because as small countries with a (communist) past they are more vulnerable than the world’s superpowers,” he said. “It is in their interest to be a part of strong organizations, including the EU and NATO.”

Ten central and east European states officially backed the US- led military action in Iraq, some providing logistic and military support by opening airspace and allowing US troops to use their airbases.

During the conflict President Bush promised money for those countries, including Slovakia, which had supported the US. In a meeting with Slovak President Rudolf Schuster in Washington April 9, Bush told Schuster that Slovakia would have a role to play in rebuilding Iraq.

Slovakia was allocated $6 million for its support. Slovak firms are now hoping to bid as suppliers to some of the larger international firms which will win contracts to help reconstruct Iraq in the coming months and possibly years.

Other countries in the region are following suit. About 500 Polish companies have expressed an interest in public works and oil industry contracts. Some Polish firms want to get back more than $700 million owed to them from motorway construction in Iraq in the 1980s.

Romania wants its pre-Gulf War debts of $1.7 billion paid back. The Czech Republic is hoping for contracts to equip the Iraqi army and police force, drawing on its experience of modernizing its own Soviet-era equipment. —Dawn/InterPress News Service.