Opportunity, anxiety in new Europe

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PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- "Back to Europe!" was the rallying cry of the downtrodden when this corner of the continent shook off communism 15 years ago.

Now, with European might and prosperity finally within its grasp, there is a palpable sense of great expectations, with all the attendant hopes and fears.

On May 1, the Czech Republic and nine other mostly ex-communist countries -- three of them former Soviet republics -- join the European Union, enlarging the bloc from 15 nations to 25.

The new Europe is already taking on some of the trappings of the nation-building that produced the United States -- open borders, a shared currency, a constitution in the making.

The approaching enlargement unquestionably will be the Continent's most significant economic and political shift since it was devastated by World War II and then cut in two by the Cold War.

But will Europe's new dawn bring the best of times -- unrivaled security, influence and wealth? Or some of the worst -- price increases, a loss of national sovereignty, a harsh new class system dividing the "old" Europe from the "new?"

From the craggy coastline of the Baltic Sea to the thickly forested foothills of the Balkan Mountains, anticipation is undercut by anticlimax -- a sense that the historic expansion will offer ordinary citizens too little, too late.

"Many people will be very disappointed. The expectations were sky-high -- just not realistic," said Petr Mach, who runs the Center for Economics and Politics, a conservative think tank in Prague.

"A lot of people who voted 'yes' to the EU didn't understand what it really means," he said. "Many people are entering with their hearts, not their heads."