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Socialist “brother states”

In the GDR, the member states of the Warsaw Pact were called socialist “brother states”. The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between the Soviet Union, the GDR, Bulgaria, the ČSSR, Poland, Romania, Hungary and until 1968 also Albania. While East German citizens were only allowed to visit these countries under specific conditions, there were even stricter restrictions to visit non-socialist countries. As members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, Vietnam, Cuba and Mozambique were also called socialist “brother states”.