Shrinking coalition watch

Last month, citizens of the Slovak Republic went to the polls and elected a social democrat-led coalition government. The new cabinet has only just been sworn in, and they've already announced their first major foreign policy decision: getting out of Iraq. Currently they have around 100 soldiers there, mostly engineers engaged in mine-clearance. While there's no timetable, I'd expect the withdrawal to be relatively quick.

There's an obvious parallel with Italy's decision here - and with those of Hungary, Ukraine, and Spain. All over Europe, it seems that newly elected governments take the opportunity to detach themselves from Bush's crusade. I guess those politicians know which way the wind is blowing amongst their voters...