If not, one would have to ask what had happened to the European spirit of the 1970’s and 1980’s, when countries such as Greece, Portugal, and Spain, which had just emerged from dictatorship and civil unrest, were welcomed into the European community of democratic states. Political decisions taken then were far more risky than those at hand in the Balkans, and the Greek and Iberian success stories demonstrate the wisdom of the courageous decisions taken at that time.
如果不是这样，人们会不得不问二十世纪七十年代和八十年代的欧洲精神到哪里去了。当时像希腊、葡萄牙和西班牙这些刚刚从独裁统治和内乱中摆脱出来的国家被欢迎加入了欧洲民主国家的大家庭。当时所做出的政治决策远比在巴尔干地区做出的决策风险更大，而希腊和伊比利亚的成功故事充分表明了当时所做出的勇敢决定的睿智。