Eastern Europe: Worried and Nervous

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Rumania remains fundamentally opposed to reform. More than two decades of rule by Nicolae Ceausescu, 69, has dismantled a once vigorous economy, created serious food shortages and established the most repressive police force in the Soviet bloc since Stalin. Ceausescu is adamantly against the reforms he sees in Moscow. Said he in a speech in January: "There is no way one can speak about socialist perfection and at the same time advocate so-called market socialism and free competition."

The only East bloc countries that fully support the Gorbachev policy are Hungary and Poland. For years, Hungary has been experimenting with ways of combining socialism and private enterprise and has a relatively open society. While the economy has been in a slump of late, Gorbachev liked what he saw when he visited Budapest last summer and asked for more of the same, at a faster pace. This message encourages the cadre of younger leaders awaiting the departure of Party Leader Janos Kadar, 74, who has run the country since 1956. "The feeling is that it's time for the old man to go, and some people hope pressure from Moscow will speed things along," says one Budapest editor.

Gorbachev has also been complimentary about Poland, and the feeling is reciprocated. Two weeks ago, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, 63, told a Communist Party meeting, "The current process of transformation does not lead to the dilution of socialism. Its special merit is that it prevents socialism from getting mummified or frozen. We support all that Mikhail Gorbachev does." Jaruzelski is the closest to Gorbachev in both age and outlook of any of the % Warsaw Pact leaders, and they reportedly have a warm relationship. Jaruzelski started an amnesty program for political prisoners last September, five months before the Soviets announced the release of dissidents in Moscow.

Despite Gorbachev's obvious preference for allies who think and act the way he does, he knows that he cannot impose all his initiatives on the satellites. But he can nudge them along. In the process, he may trigger an early changing of the elderly guard in Eastern Europe. Thus his message is, in effect, not simply "Do as I do," but an ultimately more demanding "Do what suits you, but make sure it works."