Abstract
The Czech and the Slovak nations share a similar history for over a century. The attempt to coexist as just one common state definitely failed in the autumn of1992. This failure occurred when the Czech Prime Minister Václav Klaus and the leader of the main Slovak party HZDS, Vladimír Meèiar, arrived at the conclusion that the break-up of the integrated republic would be the best solution to terminate the long-term encountered internal problems. Consequently, on the 1st of January 1993 two different countries emerged as the ?Czech Republic' and the ?Slovak Republic.' Today, both the Republics are members of NATO as well as the EU. Nevertheless the evolution of the former sibling countries has been slightly different. The Czech Republic's passage over a term of 40 years of subordination under the USSR into a functional democracy was less painful and cumbersome than the one witnessed by Slovakia. The Czechs became members of NATO in 1999, whereas the Slovaks could not be incorporated in the first wave of enhancement. It was at a later stage when Slovakia confronted various problems which drove into discussions about its preparedness that the negotiation process for the admission of the Czech and Slovak Republics into EU grew intense did the Slovak Republic gain entry into NATO.
