The Role of the European Union in Democratic Developments in the Baltic States

  • Abstract:

    After the collapse of the Soviet Union newly independent states were free to choose their own political and economic paths. Despite the fact all the Soviet Socialist Republics and Soviet satellite states share the same point of departure, only some of them experienced the successful transition from communism to democracy. On the examples of the Baltic States and Moldova, this paper will analyze the role of the economic performance and external incentives, in this case manly the role of the EU that may have influenced the course of the transition from communism to democracy in those countries.