Why are things changing so slowly in Eastern Europe?

Even tho it s been amost 20 years since the colaps of communism,most eastern countries are still stuck in 1950 when it comes to mentalities,in many ways.While western europe is verry progresiv in eastern europe is still somewhat normal to say that u dislike other race(gypsies especially)or to say homosexuals are discusting humn beengs.I see slowly changes at people my age,but still in comparation with a 60 year old woman from france or germany i would say a 20 years woman from my country is more conservative (generally).I m only 18 years and I m considering moving to a developed country for financiar reasons and also for the fact that i m oviosly not compatible with eastern mentalities.I just dont understand why are changes so slowly,in the 60 and the 70 s western societies have changed much more faster then eastern europeans during the last 20 years were it supposed to be a lot of changes.I m just hoping that now with the joining of EU things will change much more faster.
I have no douts things are economical changing but when it comes to mentalities even tho things are changing I think they are verry verry slow in my country at least,and yes i know countries like czech republic,hungary or slovenia have change more in social ways 2.Still in all other eastern countries things are changing incredibl slowly. I dont see considerable changes in the way of thinking at people my age in comparation with their parents.

The pace of change in Eastern Europe can appear slow from an insider, but to a tourist or other casual observer, it is remarkably fast!

Romania is still a poor country, but Bucharest shows amazing signs of modernity, and slowly the mentality of the people is changing.

The Czech Republic, where I now reside, is a night and day difference from just nine years ago, when I first visited. Every day I walk around Prague and see entire buildings being completely remodeled (practically gutted and rebuilt from scratch). As I see the big containers full of rubble and debris being hauled out of these empty shells, I joke that they are "throwing out the Communism", because that is practically the honest truth. In Communism, the cities were decaying so badly that the facades were falling off and roofs leaked so badly that tenants were forced to abandon their homes.

The mentality in Eastern Europe is changing, and of course with entry into the EU, the speed of change will increase greatly. However, these EU contries are also losing their individuality and personality. Everything is becoming homogenized. There is little left of the true national character sometimes.

Sure, gypsies are still marginalized because they haven't made much of an effort to integrate into society. It's just assumed the gypsy is not as hard working or intelligent. However, even this is slowly changing.

But why, you ask, is the pace of change so slow? I think part of the answer is that there is a longer distance between the Start and Finish points in these countries than you realize. If this were a marathon race, they have already run a long distance, but you could say they were starting from zero. Other countries in Western Europe were already further along.