Quote of the Day

«We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.»
H.L. Mencken

Europe’s Quiet Revolution -Eastern Europe After the Fall of the Wall

Published tirsdag, 09 november 2004
By Nils Morten Udgaard

A quiet revolution is taking place in front of our eyes and in the middle of Europe: Eight new Central- and Eastern European countries joined the EU in 2004, and seven new countries joined NATO. Most of these countries are states being shaped a new by history, with dramatic changes of government, economy, judicial system and daily life. 100 million people are affected and have to learn to think in a marked that earlier didn’t exist.

They are shaping another Europe, step by step and without drama – and they are all Norway’s new partners in the EEA or NATO. 15 years after the ending of the cold war we see a Europe that has learned by it’s mistakes.

Nils Morten Udgaard argues that we Norwegians too have to see the range of these changes – because when thinking and gravity points are being shifted on our own continent, we are affected.