Review article
CENTRAL EUROPE: CULTURAL FICTION OR POLITICAL REALITY?
Nada Švob-Đokić
; Institute for Foreign Affairs, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Understanding Central Europe as a particular European region is based on historical and cultural heritage of the Mitteleuropa and on the revival of the Central European identity in the 80ies. The Central European regional cooperation has been promoted in the late 80ies and early 90ies, particularly through the following cooperation schemes: Pentagonale/Central European Initiative (now dissolved), the Vishegrad Group and the Central European Free Trade Agreement - CEFTA. These schemes have been supported by the European Union and they fit its strategy of widening that is now based on the differentiated integration, which implies strengthening of economic and monetary union and defence union. The European Union tends to link Central European region to the Baltic countries, rather than connect it with the South Eastern Europe, which is regarded as a special case, covered by the peace restoration strategy. Central Europe is a region of uneven development and very diversified cultures and peoples. It is therefore difficult to treat it as a structured European region. EU focuses on a number of states that form “the intersection of different areas of integration”, and in this respect Central Europe may be best understood as a development and transformation project that might create a new type of differentiated relationships among states and cultures within Central Europe and between Central Europe and the European Union. Focusing on Central Europe may turn the region into the central project of European development.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
105788
URI
Publication date:
21.3.1997.
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