East European Politics & Societies recent issues

Letter from the Editors

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

The Ethical Significance of Eastern Europe, Twenty Years On

Snyder, T. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

Twenty years after the end of communism in Eastern Europe, the region seems to have lost its sheen of moral appeal. What has happened to the dissidents, the heroes, the ethical lessons? Yet the Eastern Europe of today has become, in new and surprising ways, the test case of three of the largest questions of political morality in the early twentieth century: free elections, energy independence, and the divisiveness of national memory.

What Happened in the Balkans (or Rather ex--Yugoslavia)?

Banac, I. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

How Milosevic’s empire-building completed the process of national homogenization in the successor states of Yugoslavia and brought this part of the Balkan region in conformity with the modernity’s prescription of national statehood.

What Happened in East European (Political) Economies?: A Balance Sheet for Neoliberal Reform

Orenstein, M. A. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

Assessing the results of neoliberal reform remains controversial even twenty years after 1989. While neoliberal reform programs appeared to have finally produced rapid economic growth in the 2000s after a long transitional recession, the 2008 global economic meltdown plunged Central and East European countries back into crisis. This article offers a mixed assessment of the results of neoliberal economic reforms and questions the easy compatibility of democracy and radical reform observed during the 1990s. Since the 2000s, both democratic and authoritarian countries in Eastern Europe have experienced rapid growth. Geopolitics, more than reform or democracy, seems to separate the winners from the losers. Successful countries are those that either joined the European Union or developed close political and economic relations with Russia. Those betwixt and between and those suffering internal strife (or both) still have not reached 1989 levels of economic production.

"The Past Is Never Dead": Identity, Class, and Voting Behavior in Contemporary Poland

Jasiewicz, K. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

This article presents a summary of analyses addressing the changing patterns of voting behavior in post-communist Poland as a context for examination of the issue of the relationship between regions defined by history (eighteenth-century partitions, border shifts after WWII) and contemporary forms of voting behavior. In the 1990s, the dominant cleavage in Polish politics was the one between the post-Solidarity and post-communist camps, and the best predictor of voting behavior was one’s religiosity. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, this cleavage has been replaced by another, between the liberal, pro-European orientation and the more Euro-skeptic, populist attitudes. The empirical evidence seems to suggest that one end of the populist—liberal continuum is relatively well defined and represents the traditional system of values, which defines Polish national identity in terms of ethnic nationalism, strong attachment to Catholic dogmas, and denunciation of communism as a virtual negation of those values. The other end of this continuum is defined more by rejection of this nationalistic-Catholic "imagined community" than by any positive features. This article examines the relative role of identity-related factors (e.g., religiosity or region) and determinants based on one’s socioeconomic (class) position in shaping voting patterns in the 2007 elections to the Polish Sejm and Senate. The empirical data come from a postelection survey, the Polish General Election Study 2007.

The German Democratic Republic: The Revolution that Wasn't

Galecki, L., Tymowski, A. W. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

The 1989 revolution in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) constituted an integral element of wider revolutionary processes in Eastern Europe. But in contrast to what happened in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, where the abrogation of real socialism meant return to one’s own national history, to distinctive national and state traditions, what happened in the GDR left its citizens in a great void, because they lacked a collective identity of their own. The crisis of GDR society came down to the fact that rejecting socialism meant rejecting one’s own country, and this had for a long time been against the wishes of the majority. As 1989 unfolded, opposition intellectuals continued to see the only alternative to the GDR to be a new, improved, but still socialist GDR. Meanwhile, the popular demonstration in Leipzig on 9 October 1989 signaled the end of the Communist regime. The destruction of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 was its last dying breath. The paradox was that although the popular call for reunification with West Germany succeeded, the result was widespread frustration, not satisfaction. Moreover, it must be said that the pre-1989 opposition played only a small role in the transformation.

Latvia: Normality and Disappointment

Plakans, A. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

Nearly two decades after renewed independence, the population of Latvia is quite unhappy with the status quo. The number of inhabitants in the country continues to decline due to outmigration and a low fertility level; the international image of the country is believed by Latvians to be ambiguous at best, negative at worst; there is widespread disillusionment with the new political elite, which is thought to be incompetent as well as corrupt; the market economy has not produced straight-line economic progress but rather a growing subpopulation living at the minimal standard of living; continuing divisions of opinion over a wide range of subjects (such as the meaning of World War II and the question of the country’s official language) continue to suggest at least incomplete social integration; and the openness brought by the instruments of the information revolution appears to many to contribute to dissension and not cohesion. This was not the normality Latvians had aspired to during the heady years of unified opposition to Soviet power in the 1988—91 period, but the characteristics of this normality are shared in different combinations by many members of the European Union.

Estonia after 1991: Identity and Integration

Raun, T. U. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

The past two decades have witnessed a reassessment and broadening of conceptions of identity among both the ethnic Estonian and Russian populations in Estonia. In addition to a continuing focus on aspects of national distinctiveness, emphasizing their small numbers, language, culture, territorial homeland, and—as a new factor—the state, the Estonians have increasingly engaged with a wider range of identities (local, regional, and European). Among these, the regional level has been the most productive, enhancing Estonia’s already strong ties to Finland but also fostering closer connections to its other Nordic and Baltic neighbors. Although integration into NATO and integration into the European Union continue to receive strong approval, a European identity is still in the process of formation. For the Russian community, the fall of communism led to a full reevaluation of the bases of its identity. The major trend has seen a shift from a political consciousness (loyalty to the Soviet Union) to a greater emphasis on the Russian language and ethnicity. In spite of the general peacefulness of ethnic relations, any meaningful integration of the two major nationalities in Estonia remains incomplete, as graphically demonstrated in the Bronze Soldier affair in April 2007. Russians, especially younger ones, increasingly know the Estonian language, but views of history, especially regarding World War II, and attitudes toward Russia still differ markedly between the Estonian and Russian populations. The process of integration is further complicated by the neighboring and still powerful kin-state of the local Russian population.

Lost in Transition: Nostalgia for Socialism in Post-socialist Countries

Velikonja, M. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

Why is there nostalgia for real socialism? Is it but a logical response to sudden, dramatic transformation? Don’t people remember those days anymore—or do they remember them all too well? In popular opinion, nostalgia for socialism is something fabricated, invented, and then imposed by different groups of people to achieve some goals: to open a new commercial niche, to attain political credit, to win popular support, to get artistic inspiration, and so on. Thus, many academic studies have examined only this instrumental side of the phenomenon, limiting it to the "industry of nostalgia" only. But research shows that nostalgia is in fact a retrospective utopia, a wish and a hope for a safe world, a fair society, true friendships, mutual solidarity, and well-being in general, in short, for a perfect world. As such, it is less a subjective, arbitrary, ideological effort to recall the past as it is, an undetermined, undefined, amorphous wish to transcend the present. So nostalgia for socialism in fact does not relate exclusively and precisely to past times, regimes, values, relations, and so on as such, but it embodies a utopian hope that there must be a society that is better than the current one.

East-Central European Literatures Twenty Years After

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

The goal of this collective effort is to provide an overview of the course of Central European literatures in the twenty years following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The authors have highlighted works they consider representative of their countries’ literary production and placed them in the context of the political and social changes they reflect. Where English translations of the works in question are available, they are listed in a bibliography attached to each article.

Eastern Europe since 1989

Katz, S. N. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:18:53 PDT

The author began working in Eastern Europe in connection with his project to study the impact of U.S. constitutionalism following the U.S. constitutional bicentennial in 1987. This led him to organize a conference on constitutionalism in Eastern Europe in 1990 and to collaborate in projects on the progress of constitutionalism in the region since that time. The question the author addresses is whether the constitutional promise apparent in 1989 and following has been fulfilled two decades later.

"If We're Proud of Freud . . .": The Family Romance of "Judeo-Bolshevism"

Shore, M. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:56:20 PDT

This essay examines the vexed question of the relationship between Jews and communism. Drawing largely on archival material, I examine the experiences of several Polish-Jewish communists before, during and after the Second World War. I argue that "Judeo-Bolshevism" is perhaps best understood neither as a antisemitic stereotype or as a sociologically (over)determined proclivity but rather as biography, as epic human drama. A Freudian motif—in particular Oedipal rebellion—frames the essay, which begins and ends with the children and grandchildren of "Judeo-Bolshevism."

Contested Constitutions: Legitimacy of Constitution-making and Constitutional Conflict in Central Europe

de Raadt, J. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:56:20 PDT

What were the effects of constitution-making procedures on the acceptance of the new "rules of the political game" in postcommunist Central Europe? This article sets out to scrutinise the increasingly popular claim among politicians and scholars of democratisation that inclusiveness and popular involvement in constitution-making processes enhance a constitution's legitimacy. The concept of constitutional conflict, referring to political contestation over the interpretation and application of constitutional relations among state institutions, is introduced as a way to assess constitutional acceptance among politicians. The investigation concentrates on constitutional conflict patterns during the five years following constitution-making in seven Central European countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Constitution-making procedures varied substantially among the cases, as did the intensity and timing of constitutional conflict. The article finds that differences in constitution-making procedures do not necessarily determine the legitimacy of constitutions among political elites. Instead, ambiguity on the allocation of formal competencies among political actors and increasing political tensions between pro-reform and anti-reform parties during the early 1990s proved to be more important triggers of constitutional conflict. Accordingly, studies on constitution-making and democratisation should focus less on procedural aspects and take into account the fuzziness of important constitutional provisions and the extent to which constitutions can survive periods of intense political polarisation.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Strategies of Economic Reform and Popular Attitudes toward the European Union in Lithuania and Estonia

Lust, A. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:56:20 PDT

In referenda held in 2003, over 90% of Lithuanians supported joining the European Union (EU), while only two-thirds of Estonians did. Why? This article shows that Lithuanians and Estonians had different economic expectations about the EU. Most Lithuanians hoped that EU membership would help Lithuania overcome its economic backwardness and isolation. By contrast, many Estonians worried that the accession would reinforce Estonia's underdevelopment and dependency on the West. I argue that these expectations reflected the two countries' strategies of economic reform. Lithuania sold state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to their managers and continued to trade heavily with Russia, which slowed down the modernization of its economy. Estonia sold SOEs to foreigners and reoriented its trade rapidly from Russia to the West, which hurt its traditional sectors (particularly agriculture) and infrastructure.

Ethnic and Religious Tolerance in Poland

Golebiowska, E. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:56:20 PDT

Since its democratic revolution was set in motion, Poland has enjoyed tremendous progress in its degree of democratic consolidation. For example, significant institutional changes have taken place in the status of Poland's ethnic, national, and religious minorities. Yet, institutional protections alone do not fully capture the extent of openness to diversity. More comprehensive depictions of the quality of democracy need to encompass investigations of the democratic citizens' "hearts and minds." In this article, using data from a recent nationally representative survey, the author examines the extent and sources of Poles' tolerance of ethnic and religious difference. She focuses on social tolerance of difference, using questions about acceptance of interethnic and interreligious marriage as the dependent variables. As part of the inquiry, the author compares and contrasts the levels and sources of tolerance of interreligious marriage over time and discusses the political implications of the findings and future research directions.

Municipalities and the Search for the Local Past: Fragmented Memory of the Red Army in Upper Silesia

Ochman, E. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:56:20 PDT

In administratively decentralized Poland it is the self-governing and revived municipality that is in charge of historical memory. While urban centers need to respond to a historical heritage that impacts their socioeconomic future, local authorities emerge as active constructors of commemorative practices. To connect with their electorate and define the relationship between the municipality and its citizens, not only in terms of citizens' rights, but also with reference to their responsibilities, they need to draw on a communal past to legitimize their activities and to forge a shared local identity that would promote communal solidarity. Moreover, municipal authorities, while operating in distinct urban landscapes and responding to specific challenges and needs, conduct divergent politics of memory. It is this fragmentation and diversification of commemorative practices at local level that has the most potential to challenge a nationalizing version of historical past propagated by the state.

Defining Democracy and the Terms of Engagement with the Postsocialist Polish State Insights from HIV/AIDS

Owczarzak, J. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:56:20 PDT

This article explores the history of HIV activism in Poland from the socialist period through the early 1990s transformation as a means of examining the reconfiguration of rights, obligations, and responsibility as Poland redefined itself as a market democracy. Drawing on archival materials, in-depth qualitative interviews with current and former HIV activists, and participant observation at HIV prevention organizations in Warsaw, Poland, I sketch the ways in which the socialist system's failures to protect the health of its subjects led to the terms through which state-citizen engagement was defined in the postsocialist period. Uncertainties and anxieties surrounding who was responsible for protecting the health and well-being of citizens in the newly democratic Poland gave rise to a series of violent protests centered on HIV prevention and care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Resolution of these political and social crises involved defining democracy in postsocialist Poland through claims to moral authority, in alliance with the Catholic Church, and an obligation by multiple stakeholders to disseminate technical/scientific knowledge. By comparing the responses to the epidemic by diverse institutions, including the government, the Catholic Church, and the fledgling gay rights movement, this analysis reveals the ways in which democracy in postsocialist Poland tightly links science, democratic reform, and moral/ religious authority while at the same time excluding sexual minorities from engaging in political activism centered on rights to health and inclusion in the new democracy.

Opposition to Civil Rights for Legal Migrants in Central and Eastern Europe: Cross-national Comparisons and Explanations

Coenders, M., Lubbers, M., Scheepers, P. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:08 PDT

We set out to answer three questions: (a) to what extent do (former) EU candidate countries differ from Western European countries regarding opposition to civil rights for legal migrants? (b) to what extent do the (former) EU candidate countries differ among themselves in terms of this particular anti-immigrant sentiment, that is, opposition to civil rights for legal migrants? and (c) to what extent can we explain such cross-national differences, considering cross-national demographic or economic conditions, taking into account individual differences? We found that former EU candidate countries were really on comparable levels as EU member states in terms of opposition to civil rights for legal migrants. We found rather strong differences with countries like Estonia, Latvia and Hungary standing out, whereas countries like Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Turkey showed low levels. We found that these differences were (rather strongly) explained by the migrant stock in the country. Although none of the other national characteristics turned out to reach significance, their parameters were in the direction we proposed.

The Politics of Public Spending in Post-Communist Countries

Careja, R., Emmenegger, P. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:08 PDT

A growing body of literature documents that under the economic and social pressures accompanying the post-communist transformations, governments in Central and Eastern European countries have been forced to change their spending habits. However, because most of these findings are based only on case studies or comparisons of a very small number of countries, it is difficult to observe to what extent the post-communist countries' development patterns share commonalities or develop in unique ways. This article explores in a quantitative comparative framework the effects of government composition, globalization, political institutions, and socioeconomic factors on total public, public social, and public education expenditures in twelve nation states. The authors find that the party composition of government has the most robust effect, in that left incumbency is positively correlated with total public and social expenditures. This result indicates that in this sense, post-communist countries are similar to Western democratic ones. The authors find only mixed results regarding the effects of globalization on public spending. This might suggest that globalization does not have a direct effect on the spending policies of these countries, but rather is mediated by domestic contexts.

Navigating Nationality in the Emigration of Minorities between Bulgaria and Greece, 1919--1941

Dragostinova, T. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:08 PDT

The 1919 Convention for Emigration of Minorities between Bulgaria and Greece was an important prototype for minority handling and population exchange in Eastern Europe after World War I. Based on research in Bulgarian and Greek archives, this article offers a comparative analysis of the conflicting pursuits of the two countries and the multiple opinions of various groups affected by displacement. Despite the optimism of the League of Nations that the Convention would solve ethnic conflict by bolstering individual rights, people's unwillingness to prioritize nationality undermined the execution of voluntary exchange. Instead, emigration occurred as an "actual exchange," and refugees fled their birthplaces under harsh circumstances. Yet individuals inventively navigated their nationality and often defied the priorities of the nation-states to further their personal strategies. Because of the failure of this first international experiment of voluntary exchange in Eastern Europe, future proponents of population management adopted the principle of compulsory exchange.

Caritas across the Iron Curtain?: Polish-German Reconciliation and the Bishops' Letter of 1965

Kosicki, P. H. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:08 PDT

This article takes the November 1965 letter of Poland's Roman Catholic bishops to their German counterparts as a starting point for historical inquiry into the nature and consequences of Catholic engagement in Polish-German reconciliation. The article begins with a close reading of the letter's text and its philosophical-theological underpinnings; then, it discusses the letter's reception history and its political consequences. The letter and its reception have a double significance: first, as an event in post-World War II European political, intellectual, and ecclesiastical history; second, as an ethical commentary on the spirit of dialogue promulgated in the constitutions of the Second Vatican Council. Although the letter helped to facilitate a process of Polish-German reconciliation that remains ongoing, this process has failed to assimilate the letter's ethics of forgiveness. That failure has reinforced the roadblocks that hamper Polish-German reconciliation almost two decades after the fall of communism in Europe.

A Glimpse over the Rising Walls: The Reflection of Post-Communist Transformation in the Polish Discourse of Gated Communities

Gasior-Niemiec, A., Glasze, G., Putz, R. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:08 PDT

The authors focus on societal perceptions of the Polish post-communist transformation as reflected in the rising discourse of gated communities. Guarded, (video-) controlled and/or walled housing estates have been on the sprawl in the Polish metropolises throughout the 1990s and 2000s. However, only recently they have been discursively constructed—under the banner of "gated communities"—as a social and political issue in the country. The authors look at this issue from a vantage point offered by Laclau and Mouffe's theory of discourse, which allows the authors to combine a spatial and a linguistic analytical perspective. The analysis emphasizes the manner in which societal perceptions of borders surrounding gated communities overlap with perceptions of boundaries being inscribed in the social structure of post-communist Poland, while the resulting socio—spatial configurations are taken to signify political cleavages inherent in the Polish nation.

From Iron Curtain to Golden Curtain: Remaking Identity in the European Union Borderlands

Allina-Pisano, J. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:08 PDT

The village of Kisszelmenc, a historically Magyar settlement at the edge of southwestern Ukraine, has been separated by an international border from its sister village of Nagyszelmenc, now in Slovakia, since just after World War II. A recent project to reconnect the two villages sought to support Magyar identity in the region through the reunification of village families. The opening of a border crossing project instead drove economic changes that resulted in the Ukrainianization and the Slovakization of Kisszelmenc. This article shows how the reconfiguration of economic relations stemming from changes in political institutions can generate unexpected shifts in the enactment of ethno-cultural identity on a given territory.

Recontinuing EEPS

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

The Historical Reality of Eastern Europe

Snyder, T. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

The Consequences of Postcommunism: Trade Unions in Eastern Europe's Future

Ost, D. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

Following a long period in which labor in Eastern Europe had been marginalized, often with unionists' complicity, five conditions now favor revival: survival imperatives of the union bureaucracy, incorporation into the European Union, emerging international solidarity, a new generation of workers, and the end of postcommunism in the firm, or the dismissal of unessential workers. This article focuses on subjective factors: union officials' own misgivings about unions in the postcommunist era and their revived interest now that they no longer need to defend the unskilled. Yet three factors work against union revival: ideological (continued distrust of unions), organizational (plethora of small firms), and structural (location in the global economy). Labor is likely to remain weak, with a few stronger unions emerging that are more elitist, male, "producerist," and less class oriented. Legacies continue to be the major problem, but in a twist, the problem today is the legacy not of communism but of postcommunism.

Policing Yugoslavism: Surveillance, Denunciations, and Ideology during King Aleksandar's Dictatorship, 1929-1934

Nielsen, C. A. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

From its proclamation on 6 January 1929 to the assassination of King Aleksandar on 9 October 1934, his dictatorship systematically strove to indoctrinate the diverse Yugoslav population into a rejection of their previous identities in favor of a unitary Yugoslav national identity. Through a combination of massive new legislation and zealous use of the state's repressive organs, the regime's agents monitored and coerced the entire population of the country. Extensive archival documentation permits a depiction of the effects of the regime on ordinary Yugoslav citizens, hitherto almost completely neglected in histories focusing on political and social elites. Ultimately, King Aleksandar's Yugoslav project, unique in Yugoslav history, resulted more in the construction of an elaborate police state and arguably severely damaged the long-term prospects for a voluntarily held unitary Yugoslav identity.

The Roots of the "Fourth Republic": Solidarity's Cultural Legacy to Polish Politics

Brier, R. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

Most scholars studying Polish politics agree that some of the country's fiercest political conflicts evolve around a cultural cleavage that Poland's Third Republic inherited from the communist period. The existing literature, however, provides no answer as to why this cleavage sustained its importance despite the events of 1989. Therefore, the article seeks to refine some of the theoretical categories used to analyze cultural legacies. In particular, it argues that cultural systems are transmitted through time primarily because they sustain their capacity to endow social reality with meaning. Focusing on right-wing discourse and in particular on the conflict over Poland's 1997 constitution, the article then shows that some of the cultural paradigms of the Solidarity period interacted with the character of the Polish transition as a compromise in a way that provided right-wing politicians with a meaningful framework within which to challenge their opponents and advance their claims.

Inside the Serbian War Machine: The Milosevic Telephone Intercepts, 1991-1992

Glaurdic, J. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

This article examines the arguably most interesting pieces of evidence used during the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia—more than two hundred recordings of intercepted conversations that took place in 1991 and 1992 between Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic, Dobrica Cosic, and various other protagonists on the Serbian side of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Analysis of the intercepts presented in this article makes several important contributions to the interpretation of events in former Yugoslavia during that period. First, it identifies the ideological foundations of Milosevic-led Serbian war campaigns in the political influence of Dobrica Cosic and his platform of "unification of Serbs." Second, it contributes to the vigorous debate regarding the possible deal between Milosevic and the Croatian president Franjo Tudman for the division of BiH. It confirms that negotiations took place, but that Milosevic and his associates had no intention of respecting any agreement and wanted the whole of BiH until at least late 1991. Third, it provides indications that Milosevic held the position of the de facto commander-in-chief in the operations of the Yugoslav People's Army in Croatia and BiH. And fourth, it establishes that the two institutions of force Milosevic had direct legal control over—Serbia's State Security Service and Ministry of Interior—were his principal means of control over Croatian and Bosnian Serbs and instruments in the aggression against BiH even after its international recognition.

Too Ill to Find the Cure?: Corruption, Institutions, and Health Care Sector Performance in the New Democracies of Central and Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union

Radin, D. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

This article tackles the questions of why some Central and East European countries have been more successful at creating a better-performing health care sector while others left it in decay. To answer this question, the effects of corruption, institutional effectiveness, and level of democratic consolidation are considered regarding the ability of the health care sector to prevent cancer deaths. The tests of the hypotheses through an auto-regressive distributed lags model yield a mixed bag of results. First, corruption has a significant increasing short-term effect on cancer mortality in some models and a decreasing effect in models where the alternative measure of corruption is used. These same effects persist over the long term. Institutional effectiveness also has mixed results. However, effective institutions lower cancer mortality in the long term.

My Experience as a Paid Informer of the Polish Security Service

Kulczycki, J. J. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

An agent of the Polish Security Service posing as a journalist contacted me in January 1970 while I was doing research in Poznan, Poland, for a Ph.D. dissertation as a graduate student of Columbia University. He commissioned an autobiographical account of my life "on the road to a doctorate" for which I was paid. But the actual goal was to recruit me as an informer concerning professors at Columbia, particularly Zbigniew Brzezinski, and my fellow students and their connections with the FBI and the CIA. When my suspicions were finally aroused, on the advice of the American consulate in Poznan, I returned the money and broke off contact. This ended my career as an informer, while the agent pocketed the money. As a result of this contact, the Intelligence Unit of the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs created a file on me currently in the Institute of National Remembrance.

Costs of Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Balkan Country (Serbia)

Jankovic, S., Kostic, M., Radosavljevic, M., Jovanovic, S. — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST

Erratum

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:26 PST