“At the time when the change actually happened I was very little. So I have very few memories from that time. So I think by the time I became more aware the things were already new. I think you could gradually see like more TV channels available and color TV. Toys that you have heard of in TV programs became available. I think it was like this realization from the level of consumption really than any sort of political awareness. Probably around 1991-1992 I have more memories from that time. For me I don’t think there was this visibal change because my parents kept the same jobs they had. I changed schools around that time. From kindergarden I went to elementary school. So I guess the change was more natural. I really didn’t see a sudden difference between what happened and what will happen next.”

Marta Sykut, CEO/Centre for Civic Education, Poland

At a conference in Thessaloniki in October 2015, we asked participants from Eastern and South-eastern Europe about their “Transition Moment”. Could they tell us a little story of a moment, when they realised that something was changing fundamentally in the early 90s.