Let us cast our minds back to the 1990s and the turn of the millennium.
The countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which had finally shaken off the Soviet yoke, captivated the whole world with their collective courage and the speed of their transition to political and economic liberty. They were identified as the “new Europe”, in contrast to the Europe of the EU at the time, which was considered to be unwieldy, pessimistic and less innovative. A popular cartoonist of the day drew a...