As a follow-up to the April meeting, representatives of the Central and East European Coalition (“CEEC”), an organization representing more than 20 million Americans, met with Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott today. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central Europe Marshall Adair, Director of NIS Affairs John Herbst and other State Department officials also attended the one-hour meeting.

The CEEC asked Frank Koszorus, Jr. of the Hungarian American Coalition to coordinate the CEEC’s presentation and questions to the State Department officials. Prior to the meeting, the CEEC submitted a letter to Deputy Secretary Talbott pertaining to the security of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Several issues were discussed during the meeting, including NATO expansion and the Russian elections, the NATO Expansion Facilitation Act, security issues relating to the Baltics, and the need to increase foreign assistance to the region and to slowdown the “graduation” of countries from democracy strengthening programs.

Deputy Secretary Talbott agreed to keep the lines of communication open to the CEEC and to continue the dialogue on these significant issues.