The first European Parliament elections in the new member states in Central and Eastern Europe demonstrated a profound paradox in terms of being a feedback process of European integration. At the elite level, the accession to the European Union has offered political parties and their leaders...

Membership of the European Union on 1 May 2004 will undoubtedly have a major effect on the course of political developments in the countries of central Europe, although it is difficult to predict any particular consequences for, or direct impact on, the party systems of the region. Analysis of...