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new Delhi, India

Evaluating Europe's Brain Drain

The exodus of eastern Europe's most talented that William Underhill writes about in his excellent analysis ("Down the Drain," July 24) seems to bother neither "old" nor "new" Europeans. The first ones judge the brain drain only in terms of profit for their own economies; the latter are missing the confidence and vision of the early 1990s. There is an incredible difference between the welcome that Spain, Portugal and Greece received from Europe in the 1970s, and the cool admission of Eastern Europe to the European Union. This coolness discourages the pro-European forces in the East, giving rise to frustration, nationalism and undemocratic or even operetta-like affairs. An example is the Kaczynski twins, who rule my native Poland. It is not only for economic reasons that Eastern Europe is losing its youth and intellectual elite. There is also less and less to be proud of in the East. Parties that were good in breaking down the old order proved to be lousy in building up the new one. In Poland, they failed to win over the rural population to Europe, leaving them under the sway of reactionary, xenophobic forces that now stand behind the Kaczynskis. Perhaps it was too much to ask. French farmers are far from enthusiastic for Europe as well, although they have been in it much longer. Whatever the reasons for the state of affairs in Eastern Europe today, there is little that is inspiring in the region. Living here and now, young intellectuals and professionals know that they cannot change the "now"--but they can change the "here." It is indeed a pity that this drains their countries.

Ryszard A. Daniel

Gouda, Netherlands

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