One of the complex issues facing the EU is growth. Running such a huge alliance could be difficult. Many of the proposed members were once Communists nations. In general, they are less prosperous and have little experience in democracy. Such differences may create tensions that the EU will have to resolve.
Hope that helped.
Since the end of the Cold War, a large number of countries - mostly formerly communist countries - have applied to be members of the EU. This process of admitting new members is what is meant by the term "enlargement". It is controversial for a number of reasons. Different countries have internal debates over whether they should be members of the EU. And EU member states worry that the Union might be getting too big and clunky to operate effectively.
Upgrading formerly communist segments of the economy.
There are not a lot of communist countries left in the world, but there was a time when people used to try to flee from communist countries. In some cases they were getting away from abusive dictatorial governments, but more often they just wanted to go to a country where the economy was healthier and they could enjoy a higher standard of living. Communist countries have usually had severe economic problems, and that is the main reason why people eventually rejected communism in most of the formerly communist countries. China is a special case, and although the Chinese government claims to still be communist in nature, it has adopted a mixed economic system, with elements of both communism and capitalism.
I think it is Russia.
kampuchea
Alaska and Iceland
Currently 17CanadaJapanRussiaUSAAustriaBelgiumDenmarkFranceGermanyItalyNetherlandsNorwayPortugalSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUKBrazil (Formerly)
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, several new countries were created out of formerly Russian lands, including Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Officially and by constitution Bulgaria was not a communist country. It was a socialist country of the working class. The monopoly party who was in control was Bulgarian Communist Party
Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS had all been formerly members of the USSR and the annexed countries. These annexed countries were Hungary, East Germany, Poland, or Lithuania.
Yes, there are atheist civilizations. The world's third largest religion, Buddhism, does not have a notion of a personal God as Christianity, Islam or Hinduism do. At least one of the original schools of Hinduism (Samkhya) and the Jain philosophy are nontheistic. There are countries in modern Europe which are majority atheist today, as are many countries now or formerly under Communist rule.
That would be the Cincinnati Reds, who briefly called themselves the Redlegs, during the Communist "cold war" years of the '50s.