Central Europe

"It is our common purpose, over time, to do for Europe's east what NATO has already helped to do for Europe's west. Steadily and systematically, we will continue erasing the line drawn in Europe by Stalin's bloody boot", said the then-Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright twenty-five years ago while welcoming the first new NATO members since the Cold War's end.

BELGRADE - Serbia took over the one-year Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) presidency from Montenegro on Monday, and its Minister of Internal and External Trade Tomislav Momirovic expects to see Pristina's ban on Serbian goods end in 2024.

The 2023 Vilenica Prize for Central European literature will go to Otto Tolnai, a Hungarian author from the Serbian province of Vojvodina. He will accept the award at the Vilenica international literary festival in September.

A poet, writer, playwright, essayist and translator, Tolnai is considered one of the most important contemporary Hungarian authors.

The state of the Czech environment is among the worst in the EU, and inferior to all of its Visegrad peers, according to the 2023 Prosperity Index, published on Tuesday. High greenhouse gas emissions, poor efficiency, drought and rising volumes of waste helped push the Czech environment down into 22nd place out of the 27 member states.

Ljubljana – The 37th international literary festival Vilenica is getting under way on Tuesday. Running until Sunday, again in live format, it will feature 14 authors from a dozen countries at 15 events, mostly in Ljubljana but also in the Karst area, Koper, Hrastnik and Italy’s Trieste.

Most Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) economies have seen faster recoveries post COVID than Western EU economies, with Poland, Hungary, Romania and the Baltics being especially strong performers.

The agreement is similar to the one between Germany and the Czech Republic

The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bulgaria, and the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Poland will organize a joint online event within the Three Seas Initiative.

Paris – President Borut Pahor bestowed the Golden Order of Merit, one of the highest Slovenian state decorations, on Czech-French writer Milan Kundera in Paris on Saturday. Kundera was honoured for having raised his voice for Slovenia’s independence and for his outstanding contribution to understanding turbulent times in Europe.

Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) deputy Biro Rozalia, chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, said on Monday that he has recently proposed the establishment of a Carpathian Mountains brand at the Economic Forum in Karpacz, Poland.