Original scientific paper
The Post-Socialist European Countries and their International Relationships
Radovan Vukadinović
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
112397
URI
Publication date:
1.9.1992.
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