Politically, the stability achieved has been dramatic. Progress in the areas of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the protection of minorities have created stability in a large area of Europe in an extraordinarily short time. General elections have seen stable changes in power with free and fair elections. In some countries, the judiciary needs to be reinforced, as does the fight against corruption. Nonetheless, a huge amount has been achieved. Discrimination still exists, for example in a number of cases against the Roma, and that needs to be tackled.