Twenty years after: end of Communism cheered but with reservations

But the initial widespread enthusiasm about these changes has dimmed, according to a 14-nation survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as the United States.

"Self reported life satisfaction has risen significantly" compared with 20 years ago, the survey revealed. Conducted between 27 August and 24 September among 14,760 adults, the results of this survey are compared with those of another study conducted in 1991 by the Times Mirror Center, the predecessor of the Pew Research Center.

In Poland, "half of those younger than age 30 rate their lives highly, compared with just 29% of those ages 65 and older, the study highlighted. These gaps were not evident in 1991.

"An urban-rural gap also is evident in life satisfaction in Russia and Ukraine," researchers showed.

According to the survey, the Czechs (82%) and former East Germans (79%) "are more accepting of the economic and societal upheavals of the past two decades" than "the publics of the former Soviet republics of Russia and Ukraine, who lived the longest under communism."

The appeal of a strong leader over a democratic form of government is evident in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Hungary. Only in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the former East Germany, most people believe that "a democratic form of government is the best way to solve the country's problems."

The studies also reveal that "fewer east Germans now have very positive views of reunification than in mid-1991" (45% in 1991, 31% nowadays). Moreover, 20 years later, many believe that unification happened too quickly.

However, "one of the most positive trends in Europe since the fall of the Wall is a decline in ethnic hostilities among the people of former communist countries," the study revealed.

Nonetheless, "sizable percentages of people in former communist countries continue to have unfavorable views of minority groups and neighboring nationalities," the figures showed.

Concerning Russian influence, 57% of French and 46% of Germans said "Russia is having a bad influence on their countries." 59% of Poles and "sizable minorities" in most other Eastern European countries share the same sentiment.

Finally, "European opinion of the European Union is generally good," the survey found. But in the wake of the recent economic crisis, there is some evidence of disgruntlement: "While two-thirds of the Spanish (67%) and more than six-in-ten Germans (63%) and Poles (63%) think their country's EU membership is a good thing, only a slim majority (54%) of the French and a plurality of the Italians (47%) agree."