Financial crisis in Central and Eastern Europe

The financial crisis of 2008-2009 has become the most serious challenge for the Central and Eastern European countries after they had completed the process of post-socialist transformation and became EU members. The negative impacts of the recession on their most important international partners multiplied their own tensions and imbalances which – in some cases – have led to a dramatic decline of the GDP and serious cuts in public spending and personal incomes. The situation within the group is far from uniform. On the one hand we have Poland – the only country in Europe that has not gone through a recession, and on the other hand there are the BalticRepublics that have lost some one fifth of their output. Also, the anti-crisis policies implemented in particular countries were strongly differentiated.