At the beginning of January fell the anniversary of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. It happened 25 years ago, when after a political agreement between Prague and Bratislava, there was the creation of Czech Republic and Slovakia (united in the same entity since 1918).



It is strange to think about the "Velvet Divorce" now, also remembering that in a poll of September 1992, just the 37% of Slovaks and 36% of Czechs wanted the separation.

The story after the dissolution is clear: at the beginning Prague developed faster, but once Slovakia entered in the Eu, Bratislava became much more competitive, also adopting Euro.

It is interesting to notice that:

"While raw nationalism fueled the conflict in Yugoslavia, economics and inept leadership were the prime causes of Czechoslovakia’s schism—a dynamic that presages the struggle for independence in contemporary Catalonia, a region of Spain."  (From The Economist: The impact of Czechoslovakia’s split)

The parallel with what is going on in Barcelona is obvious. With not real and strong reasons, elites divided a big country. In Czechoslovakia there were no troubles, in Jugoslavia thousands of people died. But what is the point to be independent, if than you want be part of European Union anyway?