And the Rest of the World…

In the beginning, President Barack Obama will probably make domestic policy the focus of his administration. But his first act yesterday will also resonate abroad. The Guantánamo Bay prison camp at the U.S. base in Cuba will really be closed. The president has not yet formally decided. He has ordered the military judges to freeze pending cases. But in reality, Obama has started to make good on a promise for which those outside of the U.S. are waiting with bated breath. America must once again become a worthy champion of the “rule of law.”

During previous years, Guantánamo had become the symbol of a glaring lack of respect for the rule of law. To be sure, the Supreme Court has several times spoken out in principle against the illegal practices at Guantánamo Bay. But it wasn’t a policy split. Obama’s decision indicates that his promise of renewed rule of law was not just rhetoric.

Europe must also recognize that. There is no doubt that the fate of the prisoners–who perhaps will have to be released later for lack of evidence, or because of illegal procedures–rests primarily in American hands. That country is responsible for Guantánamo Bay. The detainees who have to be released would thus, first of all, be able to take advantage of U.S. hospitality. Certainly, those who can do so without placing their lives at risk, can return to their native country. But it is not unthinkable that they themselves may not want to stay in the U.S.

The allies who in recent years have rightly denounced the shame that is Guantánamo cannot ignore the fact that the new president stands for a new government. Washington has asked a number of European allies for assistance. There are many legal stumbling blocks involved. For example, the question of whether Europe, in such a case, would retroactively provide the American policy in Guantánamo some kind of final acquittal.

But that’s not all there is to politics. Exactly one day before the inauguration, Minister Verhagen (Foreign Affairs, Dutch Christian Democratic Party) let it be known that the Netherlands “does not intend to accept ex-prisoners,” but that it is ready to “think about it, along with the U.S.” That is a painfully meager choice of words. The new American president’s request deserves more serious consideration on the part of the government. Germany, Great Britain and Portugal are ready for that. Next week, the government gets a second chance when the European Ministers of Foreign Affairs tackle the issue. A joint European policy is preferred.

The request is the first litmus test for the new relations between old allies. In 2003, the Netherlands gave political support to Bush on Iraq. Now it must offer Obama political support in cleaning up one of the worst legacies of his predecessor. The days of being able to have champagne taste on a beer budget are gone.