CZECH REPUBLIC: Prague's Wenceslas Square was the backdrop for another historic celebration last night when, 15 years after they gathered here to demand the resignation of the Communist Politburo, Czechs returned to mark their entry to the European Union.
But for people waking up in Prague this morning, the European Union will hit their pocket long before it reaches their heart: taxes rose at midnight on products like rice and sugar and restaurant bills as the country adopts value-added taxes that conform with EU regulations. It's one of the few changes Czechs will notice when they wake up this morning: border controls remain the same and freedom to work in other EU states is on hold.
EU membership was the first priority for Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, something that didn't change despite the so-called Velvet Divorce that saw the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
The Czech Prime Minister, Mr Spidla, has vowed to be a constructive EU partner, especially in the ongoing negotiations over the constitutional treaty. The rest of the EU will, however, be keeping an eye on the Czech President, Mr Vaclav Klaus, notorious in Brussels for his anti-EU rants of the past. Last week, he warned Czechs in a newspaper article not to get lost in the EU, a message that appears to have been heard, even by EU-friendly younger people.
"I am glad we are joining the union. It'll provide opportunities to study and travel," said Ms Katerina Novakova, a student from Prague.
"[The Czech Republic] should try to emphasize Czech values so that we don't become fully assimilated." Czechs have long since resigned themselves to the seven-year work moratorium in existing member-states, but observers say it is more a symbolic than a practical problem.
The Czech government says it is keeping its doors open to migrant workers from elsewhere in Europe for now, but may change regulations if they find abuse of the social welfare system.
Slovakia's road back to Europe was more complicated than most after the populistic policies of the former autocratic prime minister, Mr Vladimir Meciar, isolated the country from the EU and NATO in the 1990s.
The country caught up with accession negotiations after voters ousted him from office in 1998. Voters showed once again their preference for integration over isolation earlier this month by snubbing Mr Meciar a second time in the country's presidential elections.
Concerns remain however about whether the new president, Mr Ivan Gasparovic, a former ally of Mr Meciar, will work with or against the weak centre-right government as it pushes through painful reforms to consolidate the budget ahead of eurozone accession.
Between the wars, Czechoslovakia was an industrial powerhouse and one of the top 10 industrial nations in the world. Even before accession, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have had an impressive record of attracting foreign direct investment from nearly all the world's leading car makers. Already this region is on its way to becoming the world's biggest car producer. Today's accession is a return to Europe and a return to normality.
