[V-2]

"Is Czech Republic Eastern Europe or Western Europe (since you don't offer 'Central Europe' as an option and some Czechs may be unhappy with identifying as Eastern Europeans)?"

Same with Poland. The Western-Eastern distinction is an artifact of the Cold War, but it doesn't correspond well with the civilizational affiliations and historical experience of Central European nations.

Eg. Poland has rich traditions of democracy and civil freedoms - its Golden Liberty, and later, the first constitution in Europe - while Eastern Europe was typically autocratic.

Then there's being mostly catholic (and not orthodox), then there's the use of Latin alphabet (whereas Eastern Europe tends to use cyrillic), etc.

[kutakbash]

I'd say this whole regional distinctions thing is utterly mythologized and politically motivated. It's more like branding than anything tangible. No one wants to be associated with the less well off parts of the world and some want to add flair of objectivity to their purely political claims. Like current Russian and Kazakhstani govts pushing all things 'Euroasian', or German strategists inventing Mitteleuropa back then.

[V-2]

I rest my case as for Central Europe. The main line of division is along Roman vs. Byzantine legacy, and this point of view is not hard to defend

Of course pushing forward the category of Central Europe may stem from a variety of motivations, like some people just fearing the stigma of being "Eastern" as you say.

But this does not by itself invalidate the legitimate justifications for using the concept of Central Europe and it's certainly not enough of a reason to drop it altogether