Part of the problem is that, with the fall of the Soviet Union and the capitalisation of China, the Europeans let their guard down and allowed their military capacities to atropy, so that, when Ukraine came calling, they couldn't deliver. The US can, but poor Ukraine has fallen victim to its domestic politics. Perhaps Zelenskiy should have done Trump that favour in that infamous phone call!
The thing that baffles me is that these Central European countries spent decades under the Russians and their puppet governments. Have they so forgotten what it was like, that they are perfectly happy to cosy up to the malignant dwarf who is seeking to resurrect the whole thing? Downunder, I met Hungarians, Poles and Czechs who, without exception, absolutely loathed the Russians. One Polish girl in the Dulux labs could never simply say "Russians", it was always "bloody Russians" (well, it was in Australia). She was the only one in the labs who could read Russian, so, when the USSR State Committee for Inventions and Discoveries sent me a letter in (to me) unreadable Cyrillic, it was only with much cajoling that I could persuade her to read it for me ("Why you want to read bloody Russian, Tone?")
It's quite hard for the West to do anything about China's support though. Could it do more (e.g. about Chinese banks), yes, but the Chinese will adapt.
The ones who leave are usually the ones opposed to what they left. Look at all the anti-Cuban Cubans in Florida.
I personally think that it was more a resigned acquiescence in things that one couldn't change. Most people aren't political or bothered about abstractions such as freedom of speech or liberty - so long as they're eating regularly and living comfortably and have the prospect of better things to come, they're content. The ones who enjoyed it were the true believers, party members and cadres. A Czech girl who worked for me left after the Prague spring. She and her husband pretended that they were going to study English in England, so they had to leave everything behind, as if they intended to return. Her brother was a true believer and Party official, and, at some risk to his own career, he visited them in England to try to persuade them to return. When they pointed out the benefits of living in England (there were some back then!), he said, "But one day we'll also have all of this - and we'll also have true communism!"
It’s not so much Chinas support that’s the problem, it’s the lack of investment in the wests arms manufacturing. They have been bitching about Germany not supplying Taurus since the war started and not upgraded SCALP/ Storm Shadow which they could have done easily in the time frame. Same with manufacture of shells, too busy lining their mates pockets than actually solving the problem.
Romania were welcoming to Ukranian refugees, not sure about Bugaria but we had a Bulgarian builder just before the invasion when nobody believed it would happen who was pro Putin and very anti Biden.
Was his name Cyril Ik ? Maybe it was a linguistic thing.
