Posted Sunday, April 4, 2004; 11.52BST
As eight Central and East European nations plus Malta and Cyprus prepare to join the European Union on May 1, Pazitny and his colleagues are engaged in something far more serious than child's play. In addition to the health reforms, the kinder managers are introducing the region's first "three strikes and you're out" law that carries mandatory life sentences for people convicted of three felonies; they've helped push through a flat 19% tax rate for businesses and individuals; they've worked to ditch the old pay-as-you-go pension system, and are now setting up a partially privatized scheme instead.
Make room, Brussels: the New Europeans are coming to town. Across Central and Eastern Europe, stiff-necked apparatchiks and stolid shift workers are on their way out, and young, progressive politicians and risk-taking entrepreneurs are making themselves heard. The generation that came of age since 1989 isn't yet running the show, but it is fiercely individualistic, competitive and outward looking — and breathing real life into the term New Europe. When they join the E.U. next month, these children of the postcommunist revolution will bring with them an intense curiosity and desire to succeed, together with a firm belief in the virtues of open borders, and a refreshing self-confidence about their place in Europe — and Europe's place in the world. "It's their turn now," says Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.
The enthusiasm of this new generation of young Central and East European leaders stands in marked contrast to some of their parents, many of whom fought for the changes now taking place but recognize that only their children will reap the full rewards. "The benefits will not be shared equally," says Cimoszewicz. "I can't promise my generation that their prospects will improve, but young Poles will face fantastic opportunities." For the older generation, E.U. enlargement is less a question of lower tariffs and open borders than the culmination of a historical journey. Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga takes the long view. "[We're taking] revenge on history," she says, "by taking our rightful place in the community of nations."
After 15 years of wrenching economic and social reforms, chronically unstable political leadership and, more recently, dire unemployment, it's easy to understand why some in the region are disheartened. And it's bracing to recognize that twentysomethings like Warsaw lawyer Julek Janiszewski are full of optimism and see joining Europe as a ticket to a better future. "The E.U. is an inspiration, a source of new knowledge, new experience," he says over an espresso in a fashionable Warsaw café. "Having been ostracized for 50 years, we lack professionals in every domain. The greatest opportunity is that the best young people will leave the country for a time, then they will return and put this country on its feet."
As a group, young Central and East Europeans work harder than their parents, yet are more uncertain about the future; they are better educated, but less politically engaged; they are receptive to foreign influences in culture and politics and liberal on economic issues, but more socially conservative. They are, in short, like E.U. analyst Rafal Rowinski, 28, of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Warsaw, which promotes democratic reform. "Our generation has a broader perspective," he says. "We are more flexible, open to compromise. We believe in a unified Europe."
One of the ways this openness is expressing itself is in the demand for education. Under communism, young Poles didn't automatically expect to go to university; it was not seen as the only, or even the best, route to advancement. In the 1980s, for example, only about 150,000 Poles between the ages of 19 and 25 were working toward a degree. By the beginning of the 1990s, that number had risen to 300,000, and now some 2 million — roughly half of all Poles between the ages of 19 and 25 — are in higher education of some sort. Private colleges are in heated competition across the country, while university lecturers are in heavy demand. "We are under siege," says Krzysztof Kosela, a professor of sociology at Warsaw University. "We are seeing more and more students apply, and they are working harder than ever. Young people see a higher education as the key to normal life."
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