Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia

In this last of a four-part series, we look at the last three of the ten new EU member states besides Malta, namely Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The three have some obvious differences and similarities.

Slovakia and Slovenia have both broken free from previously existing federal states. Slovakia formed part of Czechoslovakia while Slovenia formed part of Yugoslavia.

Poland can be said to have been the main protagonist in the events that led to the fall of Communism. It was the momentous developments in Poland since the late Seventies, the birth of the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) movement, the election of a Polish Pope and the stubborn resistance of many ordinary men and women in this country which in territorial terms is almost the size of Germany, that began the demise of Communism.

Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are all Slavonic states. In the three countries the dominant religion is Roman Catholic. As they join the EU next month, the three countries would have finally made it to the community of democratic states after deposing Communism in the early Nineties. They will bring their own experiences and peculiarities.

Poland

In territorial terms Poland is smaller than France, Spain, Sweden and Germany but bigger than Italy and the UK. With a population of around 39 million, some one million less than Spain, Poland will be the sixth largest EU member state. The Polish state was established some 1,000 years ago and in union with Lithuania it was the first to have a written constitution (1791). But at that point it was partitioned by its neighbours Austria, Prussia and Russia, only to reappear as an independent state 123 years later.

The Poles have also contributed to Europe's rich and varied cultural legacy. The astronomer Copernicus was a Pole, so was the composer Chopin and the scientist Marie Curie who discovered radium. Poland's cultural centre is Cracow, the country's third largest city, not Warsaw, the capital.

In 1939, as part of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, Poland was invaded by the Nazis and, two weeks later, by the Russians. At the end of the war, Poland lost territory to the Soviet Union but gained about two-thirds of what it lost from Germany. Poland's pro-Western government-in-exile based in London was never allowed to gain political control in Warsaw.

But the Soviets promoted their own cronies and the 1947 elections were completely dominated by the Communists. For a country which had lost six million of its citizens in the war at the hands of the Germans and many thousands who fought gallantly with the armed forces of the allies in many parts of the world, Poland was very badly treated by all allies.

The Poles often remind their European counterparts of the sacrifices they have endured to secure the continent's freedom. However, the memories of the war are fading rapidly. Poland caused some ripples recently when it sided with the US and the UK in Iraq. For this it earned the rebuke of France.

But in Iraq, Poland commands a multi-national force of 9,000 deployed in the southern central part of the country. As a recent newcomer to NATO (it joined in 1999) Poland is for the time being enthusiastic about its freedom as well as its alliance with the US.

Last December, Poland shocked many Europeans by blocking agreement, together with Spain, on a new European Constitution. The main Polish objection was about proposed changes in the system of qualified majority voting in Council.

The Irish Presidency of the EU reported last month that the Poles seem ready now to drop all their objections and hopefully the Constitution will be approved by the end of June.

But this may not herald a straightforward ordinary behaviour in the EU. The Polish economy is still highly dependent on agriculture and any attempt to change the EU's antiquated Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is likely to encounter Polish resistance.

Slovenia

With a population of just about two million, Slovenia is the only part of former Yugoslavia to make it to the EU. Nestled in the Alps, it also has a 32 km-long coastline in the Adriatic which thus qualifies it as a Mediterranean state as well. The capital, Ljubljana, has a population of around 250,000. It was originally founded by the Romans as Emona.

Slovenia was the first of the Yugoslav republics to break away from the country in 1991. It secured independence after defeating the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army in a ten-day war.

The Serbs promised that they would return to Slovenia and re-incorporate it in Yugoslavia. That promise was never fulfilled and is unlikely to be fulfilled given that Slovenia will not only be an EU member state shortly but as from last week also a fully-fledged member of NATO.

In former Yugoslavia, Slovenia was one of the most successful regions, a fact which often caused resentment among Slovenes since a substantive part of the surplus they created used to be creamed off to subsidise the worse performing parts of the federation.

When it broke off from Yugoslavia, Slovenia quickly moved to a market economy and a democratic system with relative ease. Its economy began to improve rapidly to the point that its GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Standards is much better than that of some of the older EU member states.

This of course worries the Slovenes who believe that in a short while they might find themselves net contributors to the Community budget - instead of net beneficiaries - as they used to be in former Yugoslavia. But of course life is different in the EU than in former Yugoslavia.

As part of Yugoslavia the Slovenes enjoyed little freedom. In the EU they look forward to a strengthening of their fundamental and democratic funds. Slovenia is an example of how small states can indeed adjust more rapidly to the enormous demands of EU membership.

In a referendum held in March 2003, the Slovenes voted in favour of their country joining the EU and NATO.

Slovakia

In territorial terms Slovakia is more than twice the size of Slovenia. Its population is 5.3 million, roughly the same as Denmark's. It also joined NATO last week and used to form part of a federation, Czechoslovakia, dissolved in 1993. That was not the first time Slovakia had separated from the Czech Republic.

When the Nazis had invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, Slovakia was given independence. This good turn was adequately reciprocated by Bratislava which allied Slovakia with the Germans.

Like Slovenia and most of its neighbours, Slovakia used to form part of the Hapsburg Empire but enjoyed some independence as part of Czechoslovakia in the period between the first and second world wars. Under the Hapsburgs, Slovakia did not enjoy half an illustrious life as its neighbour, the Czech Republic.

But that is as far as the similarities may go. Slovakia is much poorer than Slovenia and most of its neighbours except perhaps Ukraine, thanks perhaps to its less stable political system and the maverick policies it has been prone to.

Indeed, Slovakia has been described as a country where democratic elections often bring to power politicians who do not believe in the rule of law and the separation of powers. But the political pendulum began to swing democracy's way in 1998 when a coalition of parties managed to secure a majority and throw Vladmir Meciar out of power.

Although Slovakia's GDP had grown rapidly since 1994, the Meciar years left the country with high debts and a veritable fiscal problem. Corruption was rampant especially in the privatisation programme.

In March 1998 Slovakia opened negotiations with the EU and adopted the first national programme for the adoption of the acquis. In 1999, the Helsinki European Council decided to begin membership negotiations with Slovakia. In March 2003, Slovak citizens voted in favour of joining the EU and NATO.