Central 5

Central 5
Central 5
	Central 5 Group within the European Union
Membership	Austria; Czech Republic; Hungary; Slovakia; Slovenia;
Establishment	16 June 2020
Area
• Total	325,081 km2 (125,514 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate	36,923,082
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$1.088 trillion
• Per capita	$29,461

Central 5, also Central Five (C5), is an informal Central European political cooperation between Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia that began in 2020. It is organised in the format of ministers responsible for foreign affairs.^[1] The group was initiated by the Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.^[2]

The main reason for closer cooperation between the countries is the coordination of the activities connected with the COVID-19 pandemics. Meetings are focused on border crossing and the exchange of views on EU activities to overcome the economic and social crisis caused by the pandemic.^[3]

Current representatives

Country comparison


Name	Republic of Austria Austria		Czech Republic Czechia		Hungary Hungary		Slovak Republic Slovakia		Republic of Slovenia Slovenia
Name	Republik Österreich		Česká republika		Magyarország		Slovenská republika		Republika Slovenija
Arms
Flag
Population	8,902,600 (2020)	3rd	10,693,939 (2020)	1st	9,772,756 (2019)	2nd	5,457,926 (2020)	4th	2,095,861 (2020)	5th
Area	83,879 km²	2nd	78,866 km²	3rd	93,030 km²	1st	49,035 km²	4th	20,271 km²	5th
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional republic		Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic		Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic		Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic		Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
Capital	Vienna		Prague		Budapest		Bratislava		Ljubljana
Head of state	Alexander Van der Bellen (Ind.) President (2016–)		Petr Pavel (Ind.) President (2023–)		Katalin Novák (Fidesz/EPPsuspended) President (2022–)		Zuzana Čaputová (Ind.) President (2019–)		Nataša Pirc Musar (Ind.) President (2022–)
Head of government	Karl Nehammer(ÖVP/EPP) Federal Chancellor (2021–)		Petr Fiala (ODS/ECR) Prime Minister (2021–)		Viktor Orbán (Fidesz/EPPsuspended) Prime Minister (2010–)		Eduard Heger (OĽaNO/EPP) Prime Minister (2021–)		Robert Golob (GS/RE) Prime Minister (2022–)
Foreign minister	Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP/EPP) Minister of European and International Affairs (2021–)		Jan Lipavský (Pirates/G-EFA) Minister of Foreign Affairs (2021–)		Péter Szijjártó (Fidesz/EPPsuspended) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2014–)		Rastislav Káčer (Ind.) Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs (2022–)		Tanja Fajon (SD/S&D) Minister of Foreign Affairs (2022–)
GDP (nominal)	$477.672 billion (2018)	1st	$261.732 billion (2020)	2nd	$180.498 billion (2020)	3rd	$111.874 billion (2020)	4th	$56 billion (2020)	5th
GDP (nominal) per capita	$53,764 (2018)	1st	$24,569 (2020)	3rd	$18,535 (2020)	5th	$20,495 (2020)	4th	$27,452 (2020)	2nd
GDP (PPP)	$461.432 billion (2018)	1st	$432.346 billion (2020)	2nd	$350.000 billion (2020)	3rd	$209.186 billion (2020)	4th	$83 billion (2020)	5th
GDP (PPP) per capita	$51,936 (2018)	1st	$40,585 (2020)	2nd	$35,941 (2020)	5th	$38,321 (2020)	4th	$40,343 (2020)	3rd
Currency	Euro (€) – EUR		Czech koruna (Kč) – CZK		Hungarian forint (Ft) – HUF		Euro (€) – EUR		Euro (€) – EUR
HDI	0.914 (very high) (2018)	1st	0.891 (very high) (2018)	3rd	0.845 (very high) (2018)	5th	0.857 (very high) (2018)	4th	0.902 (very high) (2018)	2nd
Gini	27.5 (low) (2019)	4th	24.0 (low) (2019)	3rd	28.0 (low) (2019)	5th	20.9 (low) (2019)	1st	23.9 (low) (2019)	2nd

Meetings


Date	Place	Host
16 June 2020	Vienna, Austria	Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of European and International Affairs
14 July 2020	Budapest, Hungary	Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
15 September 2020	Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia	Anže Logar, Minister of Foreign Affairs
12 November 2020^[4]	Virtual	No host
13 May 2021^[5]	Bratislava, Slovakia	Ivan Korčok, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
20 July 2021	Mělník, Czech Republic	Jakub Kulhánek, Minister of Foreign Affairs
12 April 2022^[6]	Kamenice, Czech Republic	Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs

References

^ "Drugo srečanje ministrov Avstrije, Češke, Madžarske, Slovaške in Slovenije (Central 5) v Budimpešti | GOV.SI". Portal GOV.SI (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2020-07-23.
^ "Foreign Minister Schallenberg at the neighbourly exchange of the Central Five in Budapest – BMEIA, Außenministerium Österreich". bmeia.gv.at. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
^ "Minister dr. Logar se bo na Dunaju udeležil srečanja s kolegi iz Avstrije, Madžarske, Slovaške in Češke | GOV.SI". gov.si (in Slovenian). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
^ "Central Five Held Virtual Conference". Vindobona.org. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
^ "StackPath". fotos.europapress.es. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
^ "Minister Logar at a Central 5 meeting of foreign ministers on Ukraine and EU resilience". gov.si. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

[1] "Drugo srečanje ministrov Avstrije, Češke, Madžarske, Slovaške in Slovenije (Central 5) v Budimpešti | GOV.SI". Portal GOV.SI (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2020-07-23.

[2] "Foreign Minister Schallenberg at the neighbourly exchange of the Central Five in Budapest – BMEIA, Außenministerium Österreich". bmeia.gv.at. Retrieved 2020-07-23.

[3] "Minister dr. Logar se bo na Dunaju udeležil srečanja s kolegi iz Avstrije, Madžarske, Slovaške in Češke | GOV.SI". gov.si (in Slovenian). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-23.

[4] "Central Five Held Virtual Conference". Vindobona.org. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

[5] "StackPath". fotos.europapress.es. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

[6] "Minister Logar at a Central 5 meeting of foreign ministers on Ukraine and EU resilience". gov.si. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

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