Chapter 6 summarizes the findings, noting that while there are similarities between the countries involved, significant differences also exist. The chapter distinguishes between three sub-regions: the three Baltic countries, the four Visegrad countries, and the four Balkan countries. Even within these sub-regions, important differences between countries are evident. The chapter emphasizes that 1989 was not just a turning point but a critical juncture—a moment of profound change in which political, economic, legal, and socio-cultural systems had to be entirely reinvented. This resulted in a clash of institutions that has never fully dissipated. Finally, the chapter proposes that, from the perspective of path dependency theory and the features of critical junctures, there was no way to avoid the unforeseen variability in decision-making processes and developments in the 11 countries.