ABSTRACT
It seems, at this point in the analysis, that the processes of parlimentary institutionalization produced very different results in the two countries studied in this book. The central problem this study intended to illuminate was a path of parliamentary institutionalization in two new democracies in East Central Europe. Our investigations have provided us with a wealth of material to show that this path has become divergent. It is worth mentioning that our conclusions have been reflected elsewhere as well. On July 16, 1997, the European Commission concluded its survey of Eastern European countries applying for EU membership. While inviting the Czech Republic, alongside Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia, to start accession negotiations, Slovakia was consigned to a group of other states - such as Bulgaria and Romania - not recommended for the first wave of enlargement. What is even more striking is that, unlike in the case of Bulgaria and Romania, which were excluded primarily on economic grounds, the Commission explicitly stated that Slovakia did not satisfy political criteria laid down by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993. Formally speaking, this means that the country did not achieve “stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities”.1
