A Roma settlement, right, on the edge of the village of Huncovce in the Kezmarok district of eastern Slovakia. Populist voices have sowed discontent that’s now entrenched.
Photographer: Michaela Nagyidaiova/BloombergEastern Europe Is Richer Than Ever — And More Divided
The region got more than €500 billion since joining the EU in 2004, but income disparities have bred discontent that’s now entrenched.
Zakovce in eastern Slovakia is the definition of a backwater. Yet as part of the European Union, its sidewalks are new, its sewage system works and nearby factories churning out auto parts and appliances helped more than halve the unemployment rate in the region.
The village, though, also encapsulates how 20 years of EU membership have transformed Eastern Europe from an economic success into a political challenge for the bloc as nationalist parties exploit lingering income disparities.