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]

Central 5
Central 5 Group within the European Union
Central 5 Group within the European Union
Membership
Establishment16 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

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

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Country comparison

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Name Republic of Austria
Austria
Czech Republic
Czechia
Hungary
Hungary
Slovak Republic
Slovakia
Republic of Slovenia
Slovenia
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

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Central 5 meeting in Vienna, June 2020
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

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  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.