The Bastian...: Central Europe and Eastern Europe

When we look at the historical of these region, Central and Eastern have a special relationship with the influences of East (Russia and Asia, especially China) and West (Europe). At that time, when all countries in Europe continental were influenced strongly by religion and reality cultures of Catholik and Protestant, and also had the relation tightly with Germany, Italy, France, and Scandinavia (for example in Hanseatic League of Baltic), so many countries in those areas had a relationship with East block. It could be proved by the Russian cultures that Russia had been lived under Mongolian (Asia) in several centuries. In order of those reasons, the political convention and socialization of it had something in common with Mongolian. Beside that, the influences of all daily live aspects in Central and Eastern Europe also appeared from the leader in Southern Europe, where Ottoman Kingdom established with the rule of Islam that had so strong effects. In addition with the fact that the Balkan countries and Hungary and Rumania as well, at the past time had ever been occupied by the Turkish brought Islam conceptions in their daily life aspects.

But, when we are talking about the general overviews of those both countries, those things can’t be studied all directly, but need the separation in the countries which established in these areas. So, if we take a look on those profiles, there are some main countries which lived there each, they are: in Eastern Europe laid on Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lituania, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Rumania, and Macedonia. And in Central Europe, had been there Austria, Ceko Rep., Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Basically, at the past time of these region had a relationship with Russia (Soviet Union), in other meaning, Central and Eastern Europe got the control in their political and governmental aspects by Russia. Nevertheless, the development of European Union rapidly year by year, these region began looking its life direction away by focusing to its West neighborhood. At that moment, existed two dividing of countries which exist in these fields, they are the kind of country which had been joining or wants to join with European Union, and the other is the kind of country which has special closeness with Russia or it had not turned away to European Union. Some of the countries which sided with Russian or communist block in World War and Cold War eras, in their progressing, they began interested in the developments achieved by European Union. In other side, European Union also made an effort to attract those countries to join in order to assure the safety in their east border of their areas. Those countries such as Ceko Rep., Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Moreover, there are still so many countries which being busy in internal power consolidation and depending on the aid and the closeness with Russia. From these factors, that made those several countries being deterred to join in European Unio. Those countries, such as Albania, Cosovo, Boznia, Bulagaria, Sarajevo, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Yugozlavia, Vovvodina, Moldavia, Montenegro, Armenia, Belarus, Chechnya, Georgia, and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, if it’s being learned from the framework of political institutional in those regions, most of them got affected by the disturbance happened in 1989-1991, or in the end of Cold War era. The form of their political, eventually influenced to all daily life aspects of the countries in those regions, especially which had a flow to the decision-making made by political actors. Even though its political institutional design, surely had the distinction among one country with the other countries, as an example in the differentiating of political input, such as structural, history, political actors, and political arena, which implicate to the distinction of their general election and the power of presidential in those two region. In spite of that, beside of those distinction, appeared the similarities in institutional model in it. Those similarities, commonly, being seen in its general election system, called Parliamentary Democracy with A Proportional Representation. From this fact, we know that the changing of governmental form in Central and Eastern Europe is the indication of the changing from communist system to the course of democration which being hoped it will bring the transformation in all aspects, especially in its economic reformation. Despite that, the multy-party form was held in most of the countries in those regions, never diminished the domination of socialist party. This fact showed that socialism in most of countries in Central and Eastenr Europe had not extincted yet, eventhough the democration had been built.

In economic aspect, so many countries in Eastern Europe changed their economical system to capitalism in the end of Cold War. In this matter, communist party which had authoritative got restructurized and commit to the democration principals and market economic system, not centralized economic commonly. But, the things become a crisial problem of these countries is the weakness of the competition power in free market economic system.

In other problem, it was also effecting in the foreign politic affairs applied. In a line with the decrease of the influence of Central and Eastern Europe communism, so that’s whay, several countries began their diplomatic affair and the point of view of their foreign politic affair and also tried to join with Soviet Union. For example is the fact of the agreement of European Union about consideration of membership of Estonia, Ceko Rep., Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia in 1997. That thing influenced for European Union which being controlled by core countries from Western Europe in its institutional, monetary, and policy for accommodate the poor countries from Central Europe.

In other hand, the last issues that be the point of notice of the world in those region is the appearing of global financial crisis that had brought an impact for the economical stuff. One of the example is about the act of Hungary when it announced the lending of fund $6,7 million to European Central Bank. The other case is about Ukraine which got the aid form IMF $14 million to stabilize its economic condition.

There are the things that can be learned from the description of Central and Eastern Europe, that the changing from centralized system in democratic principals, needs an adapting process to minimalize the negative impacts. And it also need the assimilating with the nature of states.

References.

Haughton, Tim, ‘Central and Eastern Europe’ in Colin Hay and Anand Menon (ed.), European Politics, New York: Oxford University Press., 2007

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Central _Europe (diakses : 18 Oktober 2009)

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Eastern _Europe (diakses : 18 Oktober 2009)

http://www.answers.com/topic/central_europe (diakses : 18 Oktober 2009)

http://www.answers.com/topic/eastern_europe (diakses : 18 Oktober 2009)