November 9, marks 29 years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. One of the brightest symbols of the Cold War which divided the East from the West no longer exists.
On November 10, Bulgaria marks the anniversary of the ousting of communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, which led to the fall of the one-party regime and Bulgaria’s transition to democracy.
Twenty nine years after the Berlin Wall came down, a sense of missed possibilities hangs over the countries to its east.
Amid the euphoria that greeted the sudden implosion of communism, hopes ran high. From Bratislava to Ulaan Bataar, democracy and prosperity
seemed just around the corner.
Yet,29 years on, the mood has changed to disillusion. With a few exceptions, the postcommunist countries are seen as failures—their economies peopled by struggling pensioners and strutting oligarchs, their politics a realm of ballot stuffing and emerging dictators.
Political analysis by Plamen Asenov.
