Can the Post-Communist Democracies Survive a Continuation of the Euro-Crisis?

The global financial crisis and its prolonged European aftermath have created a major stress test for democracy in the ten new post-communist members of the European Union. Although a majority of these transitional states have so far withstood the test reasonably well on the economic side, three have lost significant ground on the democracy front. There is also reason for concern that continued Euro-stagnation could lead to additional regression not only in the three countries that have been backsliding but possibly also in others. This could jeopardize the extraordinary progress in post-communist democratization and Western integration achieved with the help of U.S. and EU policy in the 1989-2004 period.