East Central Europe 2005 CE

What is happening in East Central Europe in 2005CE

In Czechoslovakia, a liberal communist regime came to power in 1968, led by Alexander Dubcek. This was seen as a threat by the Soviet Union, which sent in her army to replace it.

Communist control of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland lasted for another twenty-one years. Opposition movements grew in popularity and confidence, however. Then, quite suddenly, in 1989 the Communist regimes in all these countries fell. Each of them turned themselves into multi-party democracies, and, after initial adjustments, their economies began expanding.

The people of Czechoslovakia decided to split their country apart into The Czech Republic in the west and Slovakia in the east (1993) – both remained parliamentary democracies.

All this time Austria remained a stable and prosperous multi-party democracy. It joined the European Union (EU) in 1995. Poland, The Czech Republic and Hungary became members of NATO in 1999, and of the EU in 2004.