Upon our arrival in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic, we were reminded that we were on a tour of Central Europe, despite my preconception that I was on a tour of Eastern Europe. None of these countries wanted to be associated with the strong feelings of depression, hardship and poverty that are connected to the term Eastern Europe. I pictured all of these countries as still rebuilding after the fall of communism and the breakup of Czechoslovakia. I knew of the massive inflation and various failed reforms. I was therefore unsurprised to see Budapest in the state of distress that it was in. I was, however, surprised to see that Slovakia appeared to be doing better off economically than Hungary. Based on a not so quick drive through, we passed an abundance of construction and an economy that appeared to be developing quite nicely. Slovakia and Budapest were exactly how I pictured Eastern European states to be, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw in Krakow and Prague, where prosperity seems to have already flourished. Of course, Poland and the Czech Republic are not without problems, but they are at a point in their history where they can move past their own domestic affairs and on to international ones. Although it is impossible to solidify a division between Central and Eastern Europe, the feelings accompanying my trip to Slovakia and Budapest went along with my idea of Eastern Europe, while my time in Prague and Krakow led me to feel as though I was in Central Europe.
Upon my arrival in Budapest, I immediately noticed a feeling of melancholy within the population. We walked down into the subway and saw a plethora of homeless people and a rickety Soviet-esque subway station complete with noisy, dangerous looking trains. Although the abundance of the homeless population was distressing, the aura of them was something that I had never seen before. They all appeared immobilized by their depression. When given money, they did not move. They were in a state of mere existence. Immediately, I recalled a movie I had seen and all of the images of depression and desperation so prevalent in the movie returned to my consciousness. The movie was called Kontroll and is based on the lives of the kontrollers who check for tickets in the Budapest subway system. They all lead a melancholy existence and it is unclear why they go on.
Kontroll also reminded me of the romanticization of the days of communism that is still widespread throughout Budapest. The controllers are hated by the people of Budapest, who, as a result of communism, do not believe that they should have to pay for the use of the subway. The second and third speakers that we heard, Dr. Klara Syalay and Dr. Zsolt Enyedi, brought this idea of the immense lifestyle and outlook changes that resulted after communism. A general feeling that things were better under communism, that in the ‘good old days’ you wouldn’t have to pay for things like public transportation, is widespread throughout the country. This is unsurprising given the current political and economic situation of Hungary. Dr. Enyedi even told us that Hungarians think optimists are stupid and ignorant because throughout Hungarian history, there has not been an occasion to remain optimistic for long. Currently, in the EU, Hungary has the highest government debt, the lowest GDP amongst the post-Communist nations, highest inflation and the fastest rising unemployment rate. The general feeling that I got from all of the presenters was that Hungary just wants help. They are desperate for economic hope and they are afraid of stepping on any toes before they get there. As a result, although they are a medium sized country that could have some leverage in international affairs, they choose to focus more on domestic issues than European Union affairs, and tend to go along with the majority in the EU. The first two speakers at the Hungarian Parliament outright told us about how screwed up the country is economically, which was quite out of character for politicians. This only exemplifies this desire for more investment and economic help from the outside world and the sense of hopelessness that appeared imprinted in the Hungarian psyche.
After a few days in Budapest, I was ready to visit a more optimistic and contented city, which was what I eventually got in Krakow. Unfortunately, the trip to Krakow was much less than pleasant than our time spent there. Our bus broke down in a tiny mountain village in Slovakia in a parking lot across from a rundown hotel. Upon entering Slovakia, I was reminded again that I was still in Eastern Europe. Although the Slovakian speaker that we heard in Prague was much more optimistic than any of the Hungarian speakers, much of the countryside looked as if it had not moved away from the old fashioned pastoral society. The quaint villages merged with decrepit shacks and abandoned homes and buildings. As we continued, however, it was clear that there was a lot of construction going on in the more populated areas. My confusion was explained by Vladimir Bartovic in Prague. Slovakia has a strong economic relationship with the Czech Republic because the center of the former Czechoslovakia was in Prague. Slovakia after the break up of Czechoslovakia was, according to Madeline Albright, “the black hole of Europe.” It is obvious now, however, that that is no longer true. There have been great strides forward in the past few years and much of the country is under construction. What I had seen at first was not representative of Slovakia as a whole. The Slovakian government only recently, in 1998, became democratic and the first few years of corruption stalled the country’s growth. Recently it appears to have recovered even from that. With the help of its neighbors Poland and the Czech Republic, it joined the EU in 2004 and has only continued to grow since with a 10.2% GDP last year. Surprisingly, Slovakia not only has the lowest inflation rate in the EU, but it is also leading in growth. This kind of economic growth was my expectation for all of Eastern Europe, but only in Slovakia was this expectation fully realized.
When we finally arrived in Krakow, I was pleasantly surprised with the feeling of the city. The people seemed happier and much less hopeless than they had been in Budapest. The first place we walked around was the market square at the heart of the Medieval Old Town. It is full of historical buildings and a beautiful cathedral. The city was left relatively untouched by the Second World War, so its fourteenth and fifteenth century architecture provoke a sense of both historical greatness and pride for the Polish people. This sense of pride was an element that appeared to be lacking in the Hungarian psyche.
Unfortunately, because of the debacle with the broken down bus in Slovakia, we only heard one speaker and missed out on the basic history and statistics that we learned in both Prague and Budapest. Mr. Mateusz Tobiczyk of the Institute for Strategic Studies spoke about Poland's foreign relations but centered the majority of his speech on the United States rather than solely its relationship with the European Union. He was certain, however, to emphasize the Central European-ness of the city. He brought up the idea of Polish pride indirectly in his talk about Poland’s demand upon foreign powers, particularly the United States in terms of the missile defense shield. The sense that Poland deserves its share of everything is far from the desperation that I noticed in Budapest. The will to stand up for its interests and go against European opinion proves Poland’s poise and self-confidence. This Polish pride was apparent not only in the people, but also in the upkeep of the city, which felt both clean and magnificent. Any sense of being in Eastern Europe was forgotten because the people were content and were concerned with international affairs as much as they were with unemployment and inflation. This suggests a feeling more like that of a Western European state than that of a former Soviet bloc nation.
Prague is a very international city in contrast to Krakow and Budapest. Constantly while walking through the streets, I heard people speaking English or German. As a result, it was very difficult to get a sense of what the Czech people are like and I can unfortunately only gage this off of the speakers. Both David Král, of EUROPEUM, and Michael Kořan, of IIR, portrayed the Czech approach to foreign policy as being neutral, seeing itself as a growing regional power, but without the necessity of becoming ultra-powerful. They also stressed the political polarization between the two leading parties, the Civil Democratic Party, currently in power, and the Social Democratic Party. Both of these parties were in favor of joining NATO and the EU, though the Social Democrats believe that more attention should be placed on the EU rather than the basically obsolete NATO. Kořan stressed the country’s recent historical ties to the East, but today believes that it is getting more acquainted with the EU and the West. The Czech Republic has been a big propagator of democracy and Western values in the region and is now realizing its economic interests lay in cooperation with the West. As a result of this, the city today has a modernized, Western feel. It is no longer inexplicably tied to Russia or the East, but, rather, is in the process of finding a balance between the two.
When I think about Eastern Europe, I think about a region mixed between Slovakia and Hungary. I think of poverty and hopelessness, but with a rapidly developing economy. Although it is true that Hungary was at the forefront of post-Communist reforms, it has since stagnated and created a sense of pessimism for the future. In Slovakia, the economic boom that occurred in Hungary a decade ago is in full force today, but unlike Hungary, there appears to be a feeling of cautious optimism for the future. Poland and the Czech Republic, however, strike me as much more removed from its history in the Eastern bloc and appear to be more Central European than the others. Their economies have recovered and the cities have a proud historical feel that is not ominous of the years gone by. Their policies have also moved beyond that of post-Communist redevelopment, while Hungary is still dealing with the repercussions of failed reforms and Slovakia is dealing with years of corruption following the fall of the USSR. Poland is seeking a balance of power between its interests in Europe and its interests with the United States. The Czech Republic is also becoming more a powerful voice in the region and a propagator for Western interests. While I would be hard-pressed to agree that Hungary and Slovakia do not fit the Eastern European stereotype, as noted by all of the locals and speakers, the Czech Republic and Poland are certainly in the center, acting as a bridge between the East and the West.
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