Central Europe between the West and East: Independent Region, the Bridge, Buffer Zone or ‘eternal’ Semi-Periphery?
Journal: Politics in Central Europe
Year: 2020

Abstract The development of new East-Central European (ECE) democracies after 1989 might be separated into two different parts regarding the external, but in many ways also the internal evaluation. While the first fifteen years, crowned the ‘big bang’ EU-enlargement in 2004, might be evaluated generally as a successful story of socialisation into the Western structures, i.e. democratisation and Europeanisation, the next fifteen years are often evaluated as the period of getting sober. Paradoxica