The year 1989 has been called an annus mirabilis, the "second 89" that invites comparison with 1789 as a turning point in European history. In this book the first decade's development in the post-communist societies in analysed by high-ranking diplomats from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. From the viewpoint of the political elite in most of the former People's Democracies an in the Baltic countries the 1989 can be completed only through the real unification of Europe. The EU is seen as the most powerful and concrete tool as for this purpose and thus the importance of the eastern enlargement is emphasised.