By Linda D. Kozaryn American Forces Press Service MONS, Belgium Old ways are giving way to new in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Since the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991, change has swept these lands.
Visitors can see democracy is thriving where communism once festered.
Goods are available in free markets where shortages were once the by-product of state systems. Civilian officials now lead armed forces once centrally controlled by Moscow. More change lies ahead as these former Warsaw Pact members prepare to join NATO, the European alliance they long opposed. The three countries are transforming their armed forces, getting ready to make the Article V mutual- security pledge that unites the current 16 NATO allies. By April 1999, in time for the alliance's 50th anniversary, NATO authorities plan to welcome the three Central European states as full members.