Determinanten der Westpolitik der kommunistisch regierten Staaten Südosteuropas
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Abstract
The position of the communist countries of South-Eastern Europe in the
East-West conflict differs in several respects from the position of the Soviet
Union. In this paper six factors influencing the behaviour of these countries
specifically are analysed in some detail: 1. political dependence upon the
Soviet Union; 2. dual economic dependence upon the Soviet Union and the
West; 3. absence of expansionist-imperialistic ambitions; 4. latent revisionism
and nationality problems; 5. demand for a certain degree of autonomy; 6. problems of legitimacy and political stability. These factors do not determine the countries’ behaviour in the sense of causal relations, because their ultimate effects depend upon their perception by the political leadership concerned.
Apart from transitional policy changes, the following behaviour patterns
seem to be more or less constant: 1. Albania clings to isolationism; 2. Yugoslavia is strongly inclined to cooperation with the West, though the economic crisis and the weakness of the central political leadership, increasing in the 1980s, have become sources of uncertainty; 3. the three Warsaw Pact countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania) adjust their behaviour to current Soviet policies in differing degrees but, on the whole, they are interested in establishing firm relations of cooperation with the West.
East-West conflict differs in several respects from the position of the Soviet
Union. In this paper six factors influencing the behaviour of these countries
specifically are analysed in some detail: 1. political dependence upon the
Soviet Union; 2. dual economic dependence upon the Soviet Union and the
West; 3. absence of expansionist-imperialistic ambitions; 4. latent revisionism
and nationality problems; 5. demand for a certain degree of autonomy; 6. problems of legitimacy and political stability. These factors do not determine the countries’ behaviour in the sense of causal relations, because their ultimate effects depend upon their perception by the political leadership concerned.
Apart from transitional policy changes, the following behaviour patterns
seem to be more or less constant: 1. Albania clings to isolationism; 2. Yugoslavia is strongly inclined to cooperation with the West, though the economic crisis and the weakness of the central political leadership, increasing in the 1980s, have become sources of uncertainty; 3. the three Warsaw Pact countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania) adjust their behaviour to current Soviet policies in differing degrees but, on the whole, they are interested in establishing firm relations of cooperation with the West.
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