BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Only seven years ago, it was dubbed the “black hole of Europe” – a cesspool of corruption, political repression, and populist nationalism. But when President Bush touched down in Slovakia last night for today’s summit meeting with President Putin, he capped a dramatic reversal for this tiny country of 5.4 million.

“Slovakia is this week at the center of the world,” said the president of the Bratislava-based Institute for Public Affairs, Grigorij Meseznikov. “For us, this summit is of crucial importance – it represents Slovakia’s emergence into the world and recognition of how much progress we have made.”

Messrs. Bush and Putin will meet for more than two hours today at Bratislava Castle, a picturesque hill fort overlooking the city. The run-up to the meeting has been marked by rising concern in Washington over the state of democracy in Russia, with Mr. Bush warning earlier this week that the Kremlin must “renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law.”

The Bratislava Summit follows in the Cold War-era tradition of American and Russian presidents meeting in the capitals of small, largely neutral European states, such as Vienna, Austria, Geneva, Reykjavik, Iceland, and Helsinki, Finland. That tradition has continued since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first Bush-Putin summit took place in Slovenia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, in 2001.

Experts say Slovakia, which recently joined the European Union and NATO, was chosen for this meeting because America wanted to showcase the country as a model of democratic reform. Russia found the venue acceptable because Slovakia is seen as less anti-Russian than other former Eastern Bloc countries, such as Poland or the Czech Republic.

The visit is the first by an American president since Slovakia become independent following the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

In an interview with Slovak Radio before the summit, Mr. Bush said: “I want to say to the world that freedom is a beautiful thing. And here is a country that is working hard to promote democracy…. I’ve always felt that countries like the Slovak Republic are very important for the world to know more about because, as you know, I’m a big believer in liberty, and this is a country which is succeeding.”

Slovakia suffered pariah status throughout much of the 1990s for remaining close to Moscow after the Soviet collapse and for the autocratic and nationalist government of its former leader Vladimir Meciar. But the country turned around following the election of a center-right reformer, Mikulas Dzurinda, in 1998. Mr. Dzurinda introduced a series of political and economic reforms widely praised in the West. Slovakia is now politically stable, its economy is among the fastest-growing in Europe, and last year, the World Bank praised the country as the most reform-minded in the world.

The choice of Slovakia is also seen as a reward for the country’s support of the American-led invasion of Iraq, where it has a small contingent of troops. Three Slovak soldiers have died in the conflict.

Speaking to reporters last week, Mr. Dzurinda said the summit “is a confirmation that Slovakia is now a part of the West. … There is a message in pointing to a nation that spent long decades in communism, that flirted a little bit with totalitarianism, but found the inner strength to overcome this heritage.”

For Slovaks, the summit is a chance to expose the world to their largely unknown country. While campaigning for his first term as president, Mr. Bush once famously said that he had learned a lot about Slovakia after meeting Prime Minister Drnovsek. Unfortunately, Mr. Drnovsek was the prime minister of Slovenia. Prime Minister Berlusconi made the same mistake in 2003, saying he was “very happy to meet the prime minister of Slovakia” while welcoming Slovenia’s prime minister.

“Hopefully, now such mistakes will be a thing of the past,” Mr. Meseznikov said. “I am sure that at least President Bush will now know where Slovakia is.”

Excitement has been building for weeks in Bratislava, with one local newspaper declaring in a recent headline: “We’re on the map!” Hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs have jumped on the summit bandwagon, offering “Bush-Putin specials” and free food and drinks to summit guests. At one restaurant in Bratislava’s Old Town, the “Summit Special” features borsht soup, “American steak with French fries,” and muffins with ice cream. As well as hundreds of officials from both Russia and America, more than 1,000 foreign journalists are in Bratislava for the meeting.

In a recent poll, more than two-thirds of Slovaks supported holding the summit and agreed that it would increase the country’s prestige.

Security for the summit is exceptionally tight. Today, more than 5,400 police, firefighters, and soldiers will be deployed in Bratislava, a city of 450,000 that lies along the Danube River. Areas around the American embassy, the Carlton Hotel, where Mr. Bush is expected to stay, and the presidential palace, where the summit will take place, will be completely sealed off. Local media have reported that the airspace over Bratislava will be completely closed for five hours today and that two supersonic MiG-29 fighters planes are flying constantly over the city.

Slovak authorities have tightened border controls since the end of last week and refused entry to a number of people on lists of anti-globalization activists. Oddly, considering Mr. Bush’s condemnation of democratic backtracking in Russia, among those refused entry were members of the Russian opposition. The Czech News Agency reported that 20 members of Russia’s liberal Yabloko and Union of Right Forces parties were not allowed into the country. No major demonstrations have been organized for the summit, though a small group of protesters is expected to rally today.

Thousands of Slovaks are expected to crowd into a snowy square in downtown Bratislava this morning for Mr. Bush’s only public appearance in the country – a speech expected to salute the country for its democratic progress and support of America in Iraq.