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 former 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

• 
  Austria Beate Meinl-Reisinger Minister of Foreign Affairs (Austria)
• 
  Czech Republic
  Jan Lipavský
  Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 
  Hungary
  Péter Szijjártó
  Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• 
  Slovenia
  Tanja Fajon
  Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
• 
  Slovakia
  Juraj Blanár
  Minister of Foreign and European Affairs

Country comparison

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/EPP suspended) President (2022–)			Peter Pellegrini Voice – Social Democracy President (2024–)			Nataša Pirc Musar (Ind.) President (2022–)
Head of government	Christian Stocker(ÖVP/EPP) Federal Chancellor (2025–)			Petr Fiala (ODS/ECR) Prime Minister (2021–)			Viktor Orbán (Fidesz/EPP suspended) Prime Minister (2010–)			Robert Fico (SMER/unaffiliated) Prime Minister (2023–)			Robert Golob (GS/RE) Prime Minister (2022–)
Foreign minister	Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) Minister of European and International Affairs (2025–)			Jan Lipavský (Pirates/G-EFA) Minister of Foreign Affairs (2021–)			Péter Szijjártó (Fidesz/EPP suspended) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2014–)			Juraj Blanár (SMER/unaffiliated) Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs (2023–)			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

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, Czechia	Jakub Kulhánek, Minister of Foreign Affairs
12 April 2022 [6]	Kamenice, Czechia	Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs
13 June 2022 [7]	Budapest, Hungary	Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
27 September 2023 [8]	Vienna, Austria	Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of European and International Affairs
26 March 2024 [9]	Ljubljana, Slovenia	Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign Affairs

References

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.
7. "Minister Lipavský attended the C5 Meeting, then he presented the Czech EU Presidency priorities in Brussels". mzv.gov.cz. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
8. "Ministers of the Central European Five (C5) countries discussed Ukraine, illegal migration and the future of the OSCE". mzv.gov.cz. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
9. "Minister Lipavský Spoke at C5 on EU Enlargement and the Situation in Ukraine". mzv.gov.cz. Retrieved 8 January 2025.