The Post-Socialist European Countries and their International Relationships

Raspad socijalizma i mogućnost stvaranje nove Evrope otvorio je prostor za nova razmišljanja o zemljama Istočne i Srednje Evrope. Optimistički pogledi zamijenjeni su skepticizmom, koji se sudario sa realnostima novih odnosa u postsocijalističkom svijetu. Samo razvijanjem demokracije i prihvaćanjem svih demokratskih oblika koji su već odavno ugrađeni u zapadnoevropski politički i gospodarski život Istočna Evropa može postati dio Evrope. Autor naglašava da su sva domaća sredstva nedostatna i da ni jedna nova zemlja nije u stanju postavljene ciljeve sama rješavati vlastitim sredstvima, da bez vanjske pomoći ni jedna od njih neće moći održati postojeći pravac razvoja, a možda čak ni postojeće državne okvire. Promatrajući razvoj novih evropskih država u neposrednoj budućnosti, može se zaključiti da će njihovo glavno usmjerenje biti Evropa, pri čemu kao početnu mogućnost treba iskoristiti sve oblike postojeće ili neke buduće regionalne suradnje među novim državama.The collapse of Socialism and the possibility of creating a new Europe have opened up an area for new thinking concerning the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Optimistic views have been supplanted by a scepticism which clashed against the reality of new relationships in the post-socialist world. Only through developing democracy and accepting all democratic forms which have been a part of the West European political and economic life can Eastern Europe too become part of Europe. The author stresses that domestic means do not suffice and that no new country is able to achieve the aims that it has set to itself by using only its own resources. Without aid from the outside none of these countries can maintain the existing direction of its development nor, perhaps, its existing state borders. Observing the development of the new European states one concludes that their immediate aims are to maintain their direction towards Europe. That purpose immediately requires that all forms of existing and possibly future regional cooperation between the new states ought to be taken advantage of