ABSTRACT
It would have been difficult – if not impossible – to predict in 1989 that the European Union would embrace the process of transition of Central and Eastern European states to the extent of assisting the states concerned to move from repression and communism to democracy in a relatively short period. The laborious and highly complex adjustment to the acquis communautaire accompanied by fundamental reforms in the direction of more open and democratic governance allowed states in that region to satisfy their desire for redress of the historical balance in the European continent and the creation of new opportunities. 1 The transformation of post-communist societies contributed to the otherwise difficult realignment of ideas for two parts of the same continent that had followed substantially different directions for a good part of the twentieth century. Enlargement was about making the “parallelism of the unparallel” a possibility, even a reality. 2 As a result of the process, the enlarged EU, according to Bet-El, resembles today a modern couple that has learned to live together, but refuses absolute final commitment. 3 Ambiguity is present with regards to the future direction of European integration and we are still investigating whether “there will be enough affection to keep the family together”. 4
