Special relationship: Biden and Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on one of the US vice-president’s three trips to central Europe in 2009. Photograph: Reuters

Last November, just one day after signing the Lisbon Treaty and removing the final roadblock to a more streamlined EU, feisty Czech President Vaclav Klaus was in Washington, DC to celebrate his country’s national day.

Never one to shy away from controversy, the contrarian Klaus delivered a series of rousing speeches where he warned of a centralised European Union, faulted governments as the true villains of the financial crisis, and questioned the veracity of climate change. He did not, however, mention the issue that has made headlines and been on the minds of many Washington-based Europe-watchers: American policy toward central Europe.

This surprised some people, though it should not have. Despite murmurings to the contrary, the Obama administration is building a constructive relationship with central and eastern Europe. But ambivalence in some Washington circles has complicated the State Department’s attempts to recalibrate the relationship along less ideological, more pragmatic lines. Klaus has been one of many jet-setting senior officials from central Europe to visit the US capital in recent weeks. These government policymakers have been discussing expanding bilateral relations and greater cooperation, not lamenting the demise of their US links.

As Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Philip Gordon recently stated in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “US and central European interests are converging, not diverging.” This is contrary to conventional wisdom.

Some have criticised the Obama team for not sharing the previous administration’s commitment to a more pro-active approach to the region. Former President George W Bush did a great deal to expand US ties to central Europe, cultivating a deep sense of partnership and equality in the strategic relationship. Yet it did so in a divisive manner that caused profound fissures between the central and western parts of the bloc.

The US has reaffirmed that its commitment to NATO Article 5 is “rock solid”, countering central Europeans’ concerns. They fear the obligation of all NATO states to come to the aid of a member under attack will be weakened in next year’s negotiations on a new strategic concept for the alliance, which will provide a vision for it over the next decade. But the......