The newspaper Gazette Kuwaiti article writer Eric Berglov Tuesday saying – a decade ago joined a dozen countries to the European Union, and today, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia internationally recognized as states European fully integrated. The extraordinary political transformations have begun the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent long and tedious process in order to join the European Union, which has resulted in this new normal, a situation that is beyond mainly political and economic distortions of the Cold War.

Ukraine is now moving forward in the same way without the promise of full membership, and in those Anniversary With the emergence of a new era of geopolitical tensions in the European continent, it is good to remind ourselves what this means new normal for countries that joined the European Union ten years ago and what it can mean for Ukraine? Has been restored Central Europe lost because of the Iron Curtain, where rebounded trade in the region, which attracted usually to the European Union’s largest market in the world, and poured into investments in the opposite direction of any of the states capital-rich to countries that lack the capital, according to economic theory predicted.

Perhaps the comparison between Poland and Ukraine emphasizes the difference caused by the membership of the European Union, in 1989, had Poland and Ukraine, roughly the same standard of living, and today, the Poles, the richest three times, and the income gap with Western Europe today is lower than at any time since 1500 .

If we take into account that the total GDP of the European Union equivalent to eight times the gross domestic product of Russia, it must be expected that the road towards normality in relation to Ukraine means that the EU will dominate the country’s foreign trade, but this does not necessarily mean a complete break with Russia, which has increased size in relation to Polish exports tripled since 2004, which means that due to geographical proximity and industrial networks, the possibility of trade between Russia and Ukraine are much larger.

But this is the new normal respect for democracy and dignity as well, and it is difficult to imagine that what is currently happening to the social fabric in eastern Ukraine could get in Poland.

There is no doubt that EU membership has contributed to this shift extraordinary institutional in Poland, and also in the Ukraine suffered Poland corruption rampant in the years immediately after the fall of communism, but today occupies Poland a better position than many of the old EU countries with regard to indicators of corruption . This has helped the strict application of progressive laws and regulations of the State of the European Union Poland to become a normal European country by the end of the nineties, which also will help Ukraine to tame the demons of bribery, favoritism and nepotism in them.

Benefited Poland of access to finance huge from the European Union, where the flow of more than 92 billion euros (128 billion U.S. dollars) to the economy over the past ten years note that the private sector flows were much larger in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as because of the conditions attractive on foreign investment direct, many of these investments consist of long-term projects with the benefits associated with it, such as the transfer of knowledge and the introduction of best practices and global actions. The creation of such a situation is natural and normal can set off the forces of transformation and change, but this ambition as we all know is in great danger, as well as the price for the elimination of such an ambition would be high not only to Ukraine, but for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well.

First of all, in the light of the imposition of targeted sanctions on the Russian economy, which suffers great difficulties, the revival of trade relations become a source of weakness for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, has begun to companies active in the Russian market experiencing problems in finding funding in addition to the postponement of flows, cross-border investments .

This will not only impact on trade and investment, short-term, but will go far beyond that. Measures therapeutic rapid expensive to be applied in order to increase energy security crowding other important priorities in Eastern and Central Europe, such as investing in long-term higher education, research, and very necessary improvements in health care systems shabby. Financial periods. Prosperity of the post-1989, and which was marked by what is known as “post harvest peace”, taking into evaporation at a time when other countries in the region and to increase its defense expenditure. While meditate European leaders in their footsteps next to consider and look at how to respond, must Ukrainians to pay attention carefully to the nature of the gains that Segnunha if they follow the path of economic reforms and institutional towards normal and usual European, At the same time, the countries of Eastern and Central Europe deserves support the European Union in its efforts to reduce aspects of vulnerability and weakness have.

almasalah.com