Does Senator Chuck Schumer miss the old Soviet Union?

This past week, Senator Charles Schumer (Dem-New York) wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal titled Russia Can Be Part of the Answer on Iran.

There is no doubt that it would be very helpful to have Russia on board in the struggle to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear state. Russia should see it is in it's own self-interest to do so.

But that's not the point of this post. Buried in the heart of Schumer's editorial is this statement:

Two years ago, under NATO auspices, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania agreed to build an antimissile defense site to thwart the threat of a nuclear missile attack by Iran. The threat is hypothetical and remote, and the Bush administration's emphasis on pursuing the antimissile system, without Russia's cooperation, still baffles many national security experts.
It also drives Mr. Putin to apoplexy. The antimissile system strengthens the relationship between Eastern Europe and NATO, with real troops and equipment on the ground. It mocks Mr. Putin's dream of eventually restoring Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe.

OK, so Senator Schumer is opposed to missle defense. And apparently he is opposed to strengthening our relationship with Eastern Europe -- which seems very backwards to me.

But why does Senator Schumer give such deference to Putins dream of "restoring Russian hegomony" over Eastern Europe? With all the blood, and money, and effort expended to free the European continent from the oppression of the old Soviet Union, why does Schumer want to encourage Putin in his desire to re-conquer free nations?

Does Schumer miss communists that much? Or is he simply so driven to oppose anything the Republicans ever did that he would even reverse the tide of freedom which swept our European brothers and sisters under President Reagan's watchful and firm leadership?