The Central European Initiative was established in 1989 as a regional forum of political, economic, and cultural cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe.
Member states:
Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, Montenegro, and Czechia .
Belarus in the CEI:
1996: Belarus joins the CEI
2017: Belarus presides in the CEI
Main theme of Belarus' CEI presidency:
promoting connectivity in a wider Europe.
The CEI objectives:
assist its non-EU member states in strengthening their economic and social potentials, consolidate their institutional and economicbackground and bring them closer to the European Union.
In 2014-2016 Belarus implemented a total of 6 CEI projects in transport, tourism, culture, education, and R&D worth €120,000. Belarus also partakes in the CEI regional project to support small and medium-sized business.
Source: The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs