BudapestFor the complete report in the washingtonpost.com click on this link
Eastern Europe in Political Disarray - by VANESSA GERA
WARSAW, Poland -- Anti-government rallies rock the Hungarian capital. Political intrigue in Poland holds up new roads and housing. Populists take power in Slovakia, vowing to undo economic reforms. And the Czech Republic goes without a functioning government for months. Political life has fallen into disarray in Eastern Europe, and many are asking what has gone wrong in the 2 1/2 years since these former communist countries joined the European Union, expecting to reap the fruits of democracy and open markets.
Many experts say people are simply exhausted after years of economic sacrifices made to join the EU and NATO. They now lack the clear goals that drove them toward the West after the fall of communism in 1989. All four countries have replaced the leaders who took them into the EU, and some have opted for parties pledging to restore the welfare benefits that were slashed to qualify for membership.
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