BRUSSELS, 21 March 2003 — European governments split along “Old Europe” and “New Europe” ideological lines yesterday in response to pre-dawn airstrikes against Baghdad, with anti-war countries condemning the start of hostilities and pro-alliance nations defending combat actions.

Across the continent, and regardless of political differences, security was beefed up around potential terrorist targets, such as US and British embassies and corporate headquarters.

Representing what US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has called “Old Europe”, the French, German and Russian governments issued strong statements opposed to the US- and British-led war.

In contrast, “New Europe” nations including Poland, Bulgaria and the Baltic Republics called military intervention a regrettable but inevitable measure in the best interests of international security.

Britain and Spain, representing America’s two leading European allies in the “Coalition of the Willing”, issued statements assuring that hostilities would be as brief as humanly possible.

European Union President Greece said yesterday that relations between Europe and the United States were in crisis after Washington attacked Iraq without the UN backing.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told an emergency debate in the European Parliament, hours after US-led strikes on Baghdad began: “We have been and are still going through a significant crisis. Nobody can doubt that.”

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said Europeans and the United States faced a fundamental choice in the coming months.

“Are we to go back to the way the world was run, or not run, in the 19th century — a world of rival national sovereignties and the balance of power — or do we try to rebuild the habits and institutions of global governance so painfully constructed in last half century?” he asked the European Parliament.

European Commission President Romano Prodi deplored the divisions and urged European leaders in a statement to speak with a single voice and do more for their own defense to be less dependent on the United States.

“Whatever the outcome of the war, there can be no denying this is a bad time for the (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy, for the European Union as a whole, for the authority of the UN, for NATO, and for transatlantic relations,” he said.

“Europe can make an effective contribution to peace in the world only if its nations pull together within the European Union ... it is not in our interest to continue relying on others when it comes to defending our values militarily.”

France, Germany and Russia have been the leading opponents of a US-led military attack against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Response from the “New Europe” countries of Eastern Europe, many of them seeking entry into the European Union and NATO, was predictably pro-Washington.

In Warsaw, Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said he hoped for a short war which would end with Iraq’s disarmament, while speaker of parliament Marek Borowski said the United States had the right to expect not to be left alone by its allies.

In Sofia, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said he was convinced of a victory by the “coalition of the willing” against Iraq.

He said “one of the most important and priority tasks of diplomacy is now to think about the reconstruction of Iraq after the war. The international community must give the Iraqi people a chance for a better life.”

In Latvia, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying “we support the military forces of our coalition partners” against Iraq and said it regretted that “Saddam Hussein has managed to split the international community, making any further diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation impossible”.

In Lithuania, parliament passed a government bill for Lithuanian military involvement in the “international operation to disarm Iraq”. The Lithuanian help would involve dozens of anti-landmine specialists and doctors, according to the Defense Ministry. These would be ready in six weeks at the earliest, while the forces would not be involved in actual fighting, it said.