30 years after : what has the 1989 democratic transition brought to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe? [Part II]

This contribution was delivered on the occasion of the EUI State of the Union in Florence on 02 May 2019In 1989, peaceful transitions started in the countries of the former Soviet bloc, with the round-table discussions in Poland and Hungary, and with the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in what was then known as Czechoslovakia. Soon after they set up the Visegrád Group with a view to better represent their interests at the EU level. More recently, however, parties with populist tendencies have come into power in some of the four countries creating concerns about the rise of illiberalism. This session will consider the developments in the region and their root causes. The impact of the democratic transition in East Central Europe from an insider perspective. What happened, and why, to the once liberal democracies? Was the democratic transition premature? What are the similarities and the differences in the four countries? What are the perspectives for their future