The Eastern Bloc suffered an enormous drop in living quality following the dissolution of the USSR. Far from reaping a bounty via free market liberty, the people in these countries found themselves the subject of a historic privatization and looting of national treasuries and resources.

This is a black and white perspective. You have to keep in mind that citizens of these countries were significantly worse off as (involuntarily) being part of the USSR than the countries that were not in the Eastern Bloc, and most of them are now significantly better off as part of the EU. Most citizens remember the repression, shortages, and russification all too well.