ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on German and European Union (EU) economic diplomacy in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as this diplomacy pertains to three key elements of change: (1) the objective of
sustainable economic prosperity, (2) the quest for identity, and (3) the elusive goal of lasting security. The countries in the region are divided into the following groupings: the CEE six (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria); the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania); Albania; the former Yugoslavia; Slovenia; the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Ukraine and Belarus. In view of its size and status in the international system, Russia is considered separately,1 as are the newly independent states (NIS).
