Political Dilemmas behind the European Union Enlargement towards the East 3 Yearbook of Polish European Studies 1999

3 Y.B. Polish Eur. Stud. 45 (1999)
Political Dilemmas behind the European Union Enlargement towards the East

handle is hein.intyb/ypolestu0003 and id is 45 raw text is: ï»¿Bogdan G6ralczyk*

Political Dilemmas Behind the European Union
Enlargement Towards the East
Ten years after the fundamental changes of 1989-91 the European continent
still remains divided. Except for the territory of the former GDR, all the other
countries of the Eastern and Central Europe (ECE)' still have the basic problem
of integration unsolved, which means that they still aspire to be fully included in
the European institutional system. In spite of their obvious achievements in this
respect, from political point of view their ten-years long intense efforts have
failed to bring about such a deep and thorough transformation as was expected
2
just after the original political turn . Countries of the region have not yet
become Member States of the European Union (EU) and repeatedly face the
same challenges: they have to carry on extremely complex processes of post-
communist transformations on an unprecedented scale, in spite of a visible
weariness which keeps growing in certain social groups and, at the same time,
Dr. Bogdan G6ralczyk: Warsaw University Centre for Europe, a publicist, former diplomat.
The issue of borders of the ,,new Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and the Soviet
Union itself that took place between 1989-91 remains open to a certain degree. However, the process
of post-communist transformation, taking place for as many as ten years now, confirmed that some
economic and cultural divisions, relics from the previous system, still remain. For example, territories
of the once-existing Otoman and Habsburg empires can still easily be traced back. Accordingly,
Central Europe, constituting the main subject of the present study, consists of Czech Republic,
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, while Eastern Europe includes territories of the former SU.
Additionally, two distinctly separated sub-systems exist: those of Balkan and Baltic countries.
There is a growing consensus as to this division in intemational literature; see: A.Agh, The Politics of
Central Europe, Sage, London 1998, p.4-7. On traditional divisions in Europe: G.Schopflin,
Politics in Eastern Europe, Balckwell, Oxford 1993, p. 10-16; S.Hungtington, The Clash
of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Simon&Schuster, New York 1996, p.157-163.
2 B.Geremek, the then Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, admitted to journalists following the
meeting with the EU partners held on 7 December 1999: ,, did not expect that the process
of accession to the Union would take such a long tine in: Unio, szybciej! (Union: faster!),
Gazeta Wyborcza, 8 December 1999.

45

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.

Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

What Is HeinOnline?

Purchase Access

Contact Us

Log In

NEED HELP?

CONTACT US

Get started

Subscribe to our Newsletter