Obama urges U.S. to back democracy abroad

WARSAW, Poland -- Holding out Poland's transformation to democracy as a model for the world, President Barack Obama Saturday exhorted Western allies and the American public alike to extend their support, energy and vision to those now reaching for democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.

Obama wound up his six-day trip to Europe with a message aimed squarely at home, saying that in a time of tight budgets, "I want the American people to understand we've got to leave room for us to continue our tradition of providing leadership when it comes to freedom, democracy, human rights."

Obama, in a brief news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, assured Americans that he spends the bulk of each day worrying about the U.S. economy and how to strengthen it and create jobs. But he coupled that with the message that America is obligated to support democracy because it results in a safer and more prosperous world.

Speaking with urgency in his voice, Obama said that though no outside country can "impose change" on another, "We can really help. We can facilitate. We can make a difference."

His message was a tacit answer to simmering sentiment that America should cut back on foreign assistance, which makes up less than 1 percent of the federal budget, while it grapples with deficits at home.

Earlier in the day, Obama met with Poland's president, Bronislaw Komorowski, and with a team of Poles, including veterans of the Solidarity movement, who recently visited Tunisia to share their advice on how to build a democracy. A popular uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of a longtime autocrat and sparked the protest movements still sweeping the region.

Poland, Obama said, "has gone through what many countries want to now go through, and has done so successfully." The president also offered reassurances to the Poles that his efforts to "reset" relations with Russia would not come at the expense of the security of Poland or other nations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Timed to coincide with Obama's visit, the United States and Poland completed an agreement that will place a U.S. Air Force detachment in Poland beginning in 2013. The presence of U.S. warplanes on Polish soil is designed to improve the ability of U.S. and Polish armed forces to cooperate as members of the NATO alliance.