Could the Warsaw Pact survive into the 21st Century even if a few member states break away?
The scenario I've been toying with is that the Soviet Union gets a more competent General Secretary in the mid '80s (maybe Grigory Romanov) who is able to more effectively reform the Soviet system. The reforms spread across the Pact, but there are still one or two states that want to break away - let's say East Germany and Poland, due to reunification desires and historical animosity, respectively. The USSR allows this to happen, and the Pact continues on with Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and, of course, the Soviet Union.
Now, I ask: is that plausible or completely ASB? If the USSR was to let two out, would more follow? If so, which would stay and which would cut and run? I assume Hungary and Czechoslovakia would be prime candidates due to their respective run-ins with the Soviets.
Would the entire thing just collapse like it did in our history? Would it require lots of reforms to survive - perhaps, as others have suggested before, a looser organization based solely on mutual defense and allowing differing domestic policies?
Would a stronger Warsaw Pact allow German reunification to occur like it did in OTL, or would they demand German demilitarization and neutrality? And would the states leaving the WarPac ever be allowed to join NATO?