Is Czech Republic the utopian version of Eastern Europe, or at least an ideal role model for all of Eastern Europe? (cost, places)
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Multicultural? You're kidding, right? The population is 95% ethnic Czech and the remaining five percent Roma and from neighboring countries like Slovakia and Poland.
In fact Slovakia and Slovenia are best off the former Soviet satellites in Central Europe. Estonia of course overall the most developed. The Czech Republic was in a good position in the 90's, but neighboring Slovakia and Slovenia have surpassed the Czech long ago.
You are right. The Czech Republic is not multicultural at all. However if I were you, I would avoid using a word "ethnic" because I am pretty sure you are familiar with our history and it means it does not make any sense to use that word.
Slovenia have the highest GDP. A question is, if Slovenia was a part of "Eastern Europe". Geographically, Slovenia is East, but the same you can say about Austria...
As for Slovakia and its richness, I am not so sure about it. There are still a lot of students/workers from Slovakia living in the Czech Republic. They are not considered to be foreigners here. I mean technically they are, but nobody cares about that. Slovakia is a beautiful place to visit and its western part is OK, but the East is horrible.
That's a tough question, and I guess it depends on how you want to define "utopia". The Czech Republic has certainly done well economically, relative to some other countries in the former Eastern Bloc, but there's still a lot of corruption, and prejudice against some foreigners and Romanies still runs pretty high. Even my educated Czech friends thought it was completely stupid, for example, that the Vietnamese were working to be recognized as an "official minority".
And cosmopolitan Prague, needless to say, does not equal the Czech Republic.
But it's hard for me to make blanket statements about the country as a whole. Surely France and Germany face similar challenges with their Algerian and Turkish immigrants as well, no? And most Czechs, I feel, when pressed, avoid the virulent nationalism and historical posturing that sometimes comes out in other "Eastern European" nations. When push comes to shove, they tend to be grumbling, but pragmatic, at least in my experience.
By the way if you are in the Czech Republic, do not ever say anything about "Eastern Europe". Historically, we have always been a part of Central Europe (whatever you imagine when I say that) with exception of 1945 - 1989. People do not want to be called Eastern Europeans. Why? Well what comes to your mind when I say "Eastern Europe". No, do not answer, it is a rhetorical question...
Oh yes I can see that. There is too much 'bad' history to ponder over when it comes to so-called 'Eastern Europe'. I do have to say that I admire the way former countires who were in the 'bloc' have tried to get out of the cultural quagmire they found themselves in under Soviet domination. Unfortunately though I'd argue that even in the perhaps 'vibrant' 'Czech republic there are no doubt scars that have healed as those which have not. I figure that is all the 'unseen' part of a tourist's view of the former Eastern bloc countries.
The Czech Republic is not multicultural at all. I mean there are a a lot of foreigners living in Prague, but it does not make the Czech Republic multicultural. As for tourism, most people think of Prague as Kafka´s Prague but it is not true anymore, at least since 1989. Prague is an open-air museum full of tourists. I mean it is OK, but that spirit is gone.
By the way if you are in the Czech Republic, do not ever say anything about "Eastern Europe". Historically, we have always been a part of Central Europe (whatever you imagine when I say that) with exception of 1945 - 1989. People do not want to be called Eastern Europeans. Why? Well what comes to your mind when I say "Eastern Europe". No, do not answer, it is a rhetorical question...
Look, politically, it's part of Eastern Europe. It depends on how you view the situation. The Czech Republic is pretty multicultural actually. Like you said, people there like to be called Central Europeans because of their strong ties with Hungary and Eastern Germany. The communist regime, however, remained in power for too much time to negate that the Czechs and Russians have nothing in common. More recently, the country did become close to Poland. It's just a matter of perspective.
Look, politically, it's part of Eastern Europe. It depends on how you view the situation. The Czech Republic is pretty multicultural actually. Like you said, people there like to be called Central Europeans because of their strong ties with Hungary and Eastern Germany. The communist regime, however, remained in power for too much time to negate that the Czechs and Russians have nothing in common. More recently, the country did become close to Poland. It's just a matter of perspective.
I still do not get why you think The Czech Republic is "pretty multicultural". As I said before there are a lot of foreigners living/working in Prague and there are some foreign students in other cities (Plzen, Brno), but with exception of a Vietnamese community, it is really difficult to find foreigners here. Compared to The West, The Czech Republic can not be considered multicultural. However I guess you probably imagine something else when you hear that word...
Look, politically, it's part of Eastern Europe. It depends on how you view the situation. The Czech Republic is pretty multicultural actually. Like you said, people there like to be called Central Europeans because of their strong ties with Hungary and Eastern Germany. The communist regime, however, remained in power for too much time to negate that the Czechs and Russians have nothing in common. More recently, the country did become close to Poland. It's just a matter of perspective.
So your only argument why Czech Republic is "part of Eastern Europe" is that it remained under communist regime as long as Eastern Germany? ...
i dont see Czech republic being any more advanced than Poland or Slovakia is. ive been to them all and visually they all look very similar. Quality of life in Poland or Czech Rep is also almost on pair with few small differences, dont forget Czech Republic borders rich countries like Germany and Austria and places like Moldova are surrounded by poor countries and not even in EU.
i dont see Czech republic being any more advanced than Poland or Slovakia is. ive been to them all and visually they all look very similar. Quality of life in Poland or Czech Rep is also almost on pair with few small differences, dont forget Czech Republic borders rich countries like Germany and Austria and places like Moldova are surrounded by poor countries and not even in EU.
Well it depends on what part of Poland/The Czech Republic/Slovakia you visited. Eastern part of Slovakia is very poor, but western part around the capital is well developed. As for standard of living, the Czechs still earn more money than people in Slovakia. I have never been to Poland, but from what I have heard, western Poland is more developed than eastern part of the country and it is also more tolerant or to be more precise it is less religious.
Interestingly, the Polish voting results follow often the pre-WWI borders:
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