In the assistance to eastern Europe since 1989, the financial assistance has been predominantly debt-creating with many of the transition countries most in need receiving the least amounts of help, and with both financial and technical assistance poorly monitored and weakly coordinated. Access to western markets for eastern exports greatly increased from 1989 but the security of this improvement was thrown into doubt by the upsurge of western protectionist action against selected imports from the transition economies. The inability to move quickly on all three fronts was seen as encouraging growing pessimism and disillusion in large sectors of the population in the transition economies.