Kwasniewski, Voronin, Pyrvanov...

Of course, it is somewhat incorrect to line up Polish Social Democrat Aleksander Kwasniewski, Moldovan Communist Vladimir Voronin, and Bulgarian Socialist Georgy Pyrvanov. The three are united perhaps by their Communist background only. Even Voronin, because his responsibilities after his party won the election and he became president immediately forced him to forget about slogans and set to real policies, precisely as Kwasniewski has done since inauguration. The same for Pyrvanov. The Communist Party remains a good brand in the post-Soviet space. In Central and South Europe, Communist have to become Socialists and Social Democrats to secure their political future.

Of course, brand names dictate politics, but the Bulgarian Socialists were not dictated by their non-Communist front to treat their own economy a bit more realistically. After the collapse of the Bulgarian economy the Socialists won no elections and the victory of one of them in the presidential campaign was rather a symbolic revenge. If Moldovan Communists show Bulgarian realism in their attitude toward their economy they will suffer the same lot. In contrast, the Polish Left has always treated the economy quite seriously, and as a result they could keep the political pendulum from swinging from Right to Left and back.

In reality, the difference between Kwasniewski, Voronin, and Pyrvanov consists precisely in the programmed development of the Polish political system and the chaotic course taken by Moldova and Bulgaria. The dangerous thing is not that a Communist is now president in Moldova and a Socialist in Bulgaria, but primarily the absence of a responsible professional Left capable of securing a serious discussion between the Left and Right and political succession.