Geographical aspects of East Europe's ''opening'' (case study: Slovak Republic)

Political change, in 1989, confronted the Slovak Republic with a set of economic and social problems that where, in 1993, intensified by the division of Czechoslovakia into two independent states: the Czech and Slovak Republics. In Slovakia the fall of socialism triggered transformation processes and the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, accompanied by numerous problems connected also with the creation of the new independent state. This paper mainly deals with geographical aspects of transformation processes in society and points out geographically relevant problems as well as advantages of the new situation in society and economy. The analysis of the advantages is based on the geographical and gee-political position of Slovakia within Central Europe between highly developed West-European countries with a highly advanced technology, and East-European countries offering prospective markets and raw materials. Moreover there is an increasingly modernized infrastructure, and relatively cheap and qualified labour is available in Slovakia. On the other hand, this analysis of a selection of economic and socio-geographical phenomena of the economic transformation of Slovakia also displays some problems, the causes of which stem from the socialist past; a relatively rapid formation of a market environment, the society's not being in the knowing as to the introduction of systemic changes, unforeseen developments or erroneous anticipations as to reforms, both spatially and temporarily, and an unexpected impact of negative effects of the reform on specific social groups.