Nation, State, Europe and national revival in Hungarian party politics: the case of the millennial commemorations

Much of the social science research on the post‐communist states has focused on the extent to which the populations of the region support democracy and the market, in both the abstract and the real...

Introduction: There has been wide recognition of the health divide between Western Europe and the former socialist countries from Central and Eastern Europe. However, these have not been assessed in terms of burden of disease, and the effect of stroke has not been fully elucidated, especially in terms of time trends. Methods: The West-Eastern European stroke burden was analysed using data from the Global Burden of Stroke (GBD) Study 2019 in terms of disability-adjusted life years lost (DALYs) and years of life lost (YLL) over the period 1990–2019 by gender. Data were extracted on a regional (West, Central, and East Europe) and country level for the twenty former socialist countries from Central and East Europe according to GBD regional definitions. We focused on the trends of age-standardized stroke DALY rates across the three decades and compared them with the average rates for West Europe. Main Findings: All Central and East European countries experienced a decline in all-cause disease burden between 1990 and 2019, and a gap was confirmed between the East, the Central, and the West European region for men but not for women. The age-standardized stroke DALY rates declined in the three European regions and in all twenty Central and East European countries but at a different pace. The stroke DALY rates among women exhibited the greatest decline in the West −59% (95% UI [−60; −57]) followed by the Central European region −48% (95% UI [−53; −42]) and lowest among women in East Europe −37% (95% UI [−43; −29]). The decline in men was even higher than among women −61% (95% UI [−63; −60]), while in Central Europe it was −43% (95% UI [−50; −37]) and in the East −25% (95% UI [−34; −14]), leading to widening of the gap between East, Central, and West Europe in relation to stroke burden. YLL represented more than 70% of stroke DALYs and more than 90% of DALYs for men in East European countries. Conclusions: The burden of stroke contributes to the European health gap through preventable premature stroke deaths. There are some very successful countries in stroke burden management from both Central (Slovenia, Czech Republic, and Hungary) and East Europe (Estonia), suggesting that closing the health gap between East and West is a realistic aim.

In the last decade, substantial differences in the epidemiology of, antiretroviral therapy (ART) for, cascade of care in and support to people with HIV in vulnerable populations have been observed between countries in Western Europe, Central Europe (CE) and Eastern Europe (EE). The aim of this study was to use a survey to explore whether ART availability and therapies have evolved in CE and EE according to European guidelines. The Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe (ECEE) Network Group conducted two identical multicentre cross-sectional online surveys in 2019 and 2021 concerning the availability and use of antiretroviral drugs (boosted protease inhibitors [bPIs], integrase inhibitors [INSTIs] and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors [NRTIs]), the introduction of a rapid ART start strategy and the use of two-drug regimens (2DRs) for starting or switching ART. We also investigated barriers to the implementation of these strategies in each region. In total, 18 centres participated in the study: four from CE, six from EE and eight from Southeastern Europe (SEE). Between those 2 years, older PIs were less frequently used and darunavir-based regimens were the main PIs (83%); bictegravir-based and tenofovir alafenamide-based regimens were introduced in CE and SEE but not in EE. The COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly interrupt delivery of ART in most centres. Two-thirds of centres adopted a rapid ART start strategy, mainly in pregnant women and to improve linkage of care in vulnerable populations. The main obstacle to rapid ART start was that national guidelines in several countries from all three regions did not support such as strategy or required laboratory tests first; an INSTI/NRTI combination was the most commonly prescribed regimen (75%) and was exclusively prescribed in SEE. 2DRs are increasingly used for starting or switching ART (58%), and an INSTI/NRTI was the preferred regimen (75%) in all regions and exclusively prescribed in SEE, whereas the use of bPIs declined. Metabolic disorders and adverse drug reactions were the main reasons for starting a 2DR; in the second survey, HIV RNA <500 000 c/ml and high cluster of differentiation (CD)-4 count emerged as additional important reasons. In just 2 years and in spite of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, significant achievements concerning ART availability and strategies have occurred in CE, EE and SEE that facilitate the harmonization of those strategies with the European AIDS Clinical Society guidelines. Few exceptions exist, especially in EE. Continuous effort is needed to overcome various obstacles (administrative, financial, national guideline restrictions) in some countries.

The prostitution sector is becoming more international. After the fall of the Iron Curtain the number of prostitutes from eastern and central Europe in the Netherlands increased rapidly. This contribution presents the results of an empirical study on trafficking in women from central and eastern Europe, conducted by researchers of the University of Twente in close cooperation with a team of policemen and crime analysts of a special inter-regional criminal investigation department on organized crime from East Europe and Turkey. Based on empirical data from 1994 to 1996, police sources, information from local police units concerned with supervising prostitution, and interviews with victims and with persons involved in the prostitution business, special attention is given to the modus operandi and nature of the criminal groups involved. Although most of the women leave their country voluntarily, once in the Netherlands they have to work under bad conditions, are more or less imprisoned, and earn only a very small fraction of the amount of money they were promised in their home country. Not all arrested offenders for trafficking in women are members of organized crime groups. A more differentiated picture emerges from the data. The Dutch police files show small, loosely organized cliques of professionals as well as larger organized crime groups having their center in eastern and central Europe or in the Netherlands.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes A. Bozóki and J.T. Ishiyama (eds.), The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe (Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 2002), pp.422–4. H. Kitschelt, Z. Mansfeldova, R. Markowski and G. Tóka, Post-Communist Party Systems: Competition, Representation, and Inter-Party Cooperation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp.383–9. R. Markowski, ‘The Polish SLD in the 1990s: From Opposition to Incumbents and Back’, in Bozóki and Ishiyama, p.81. S. Birch, F. Millard, M. Popescu and K. Williams, Embodying Democracy: Electoral System Design in Post-Communist Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002), p.178. R. Taagepera, ‘How Electoral Systems Matter for Democratization’, Democratization, Vol.5, No.3 (1998), p.86. Angelo Panebianco, Political Parties: Organization and Power (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). P.G. Lewis, ‘Political Institutionalisation and Party Development in Post-communist Poland’, Europe–Asia Studies, Vol.46, No.5 (1994), pp.779–99. Z. Enyedi, ‘Organizing a Subcultural Party in Eastern Europe: The Case of the Hungarian Christian Democrats’, Party Politics, Vol.2, No.3 (1996), pp.377–96. I. van Biezen, Political Parties in New Democracies: Party Organization in Southern and Eastern and Central Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2003), pp.214–17. I. van Biezen, ‘On the Internal Balance of Party Power: Party Organizations in New Democracies’, Party Politics, Vol.6, No.4 (2000), p.410. P.G. Lewis, ‘Recent Evolutions of European Parties East and West: Towards Cartelization?’, Central European Political Science Review, Vol.3, No.8 (2002), pp.16–17. R.F. Leslie (ed.), The History of Poland Since 1863 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), p.166. Lewis, ‘Political Institutionalization and Party Development’, pp.785, 791–2. R.A. Dahl, Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1971); see also R. Grew, ‘Crises and Their Sequences’, in R. Grew (ed.), Crises of Political Development in Europe and the United States (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978), pp.3–39. J. Simon, ‘Electoral Systems and Regime Change in Central and Eastern Europe, 1990–1994’, Representation, Vol.35, Nos 2/3 (1998), pp.122–36. D. Perkins, ‘Structure and Choice: The Role of Organizations, Patronage and the Media in Party Formation’, Party Politics, Vol.2, No.3 (1996), pp.355–75. S.M. Lipset and S. Rokkan (eds.), Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives (New York: Free Press, 1967). Markowski, p. 52.

Introduction: Ischemic stroke accounts for approximately 80% of all stroke cases and remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among adults. At the beginning of the 21st century, the age-standardized incidence of stroke in Europe ranged from 95 to 290 cases per 100,000 population. Objective: Our aim was to examine trends in the incidence of ischemic stroke in Europe between 1991 and 2021, by country group, gender, and age group. Method: In our retrospective, quantitative study, we analyzed data from 44 countries in three European country groups (Eastern, Central, and Western Europe) per 100 000 people based on the Global Burden of Disease 2021 database. Descriptive statistics, time series analysis and Kruskal–Wallis test were performed. Results: Between 1991 and 2021, the age-standardized incidence per 100 000 population in men decreased from 206.7 to 147.1 (−28.8%) in Eastern Europe, from 172.1 to 123.8 (−28.1%) in Central Europe, and from 120.7 to 62.3 (−48.4%) (p<0.05) in Western Europe. In women, during the same period, it decreased from 169.8 to 113.9 (−32.9%) in Eastern Europe, from 142.4 to 106.0 (−25.6%) in Central Europe, and from 89.5 to 47.2 (−47.3%) in Western Europe (p<0.05). Significant differences were found between Eastern and Western European countries and between Central and Western European countries for both sexes (1991, 2001, 2011, 2021: p<0.05). The incidence was higher in men than in women every year, especially in the age groups over 55. The largest decrease for both sexes was observed in the 65–69 age group. Based on the analysis by country, the largest decrease was in Portugal (men: –71.1%; women: –69.9%), while in Montenegro, increases of +4.1% for men and +6.3% for women were observed. Conclusion: During the study period, the incidence of ischemic stroke decreased in all three country groups, but the improvement was greater in the Western European country group, which had lower (more favorable) baseline values, than in Central or Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, in 2021, the incidence in Eastern and Central Europe still exceeded the level measured in Western European countries in 1991. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(42): 1642–1652.

PurposeThis paper aims to assess how a hotel geographical location in different parts of Central and Eastern Europe influences the complexity of perception of pro-environmental behavior.Design/methodology/approachTo find out, whether hotel location in a specific country influences the complexity of environmental practices, this study used two closely connected multivariate statistical techniques analyzing gradients: principal components analysis and partial redundancy analysis. The research comprises data collection from seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In all, 25 randomly selected hotels (based on star rating) from various countries were approached to complete a questionnaire. Environmental practices were studied based on motivations, perception of barriers, perception of support from different levels of public sector, will of managers to promote pro-environmental measures based on sufficient funding, perception of legislation and perception of various other important factors.FindingsThe study reveals significant differences between hotels in Central Europe and Eastern Europe in the perception of the complexity in implementation of the environmental practices by hotel managers. The character of the present study, however, needs to address the identification of particular aspects that are relevant to the geographical differences among the studied countries.Research limitations/implicationsResearch was limited to a selection of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. There is still probability that managers in hotels from Poland and Croatia could possess different preferences. Other limitation of this study is that only special part of hotels were asked – hotels certified by star grading, out of our scope remained other hotels. It is also known that important factor is precise location of hotel within country – hotels in established tourism destination behave other way that those outside recreational areas. These factors deserve further study within this topic. There are many aspects of sustainability and environmental protection regarding hotel industry. As we have found in our principal correspondence analysis, different environmental measures were different location in biplot – some were affected by country, the other by star grading and affiliation to hotel chain. The complexity deserves to be studied in depth.Practical implicationsThe importance lies first in the identification of the aspects that are governed by geographical differences among the countries studied. These aspects are the initiatives and support from the government and the local governments, which counteract the perception that there is a lack of financial resources and the return on investments is slow. So, based on the data, which included information from various types of hotels from seven CEE countries, the activities of national and local authorities were identified to be the main differentiating variable. The support of the environment-friendly conduct of business in the hotel industry is appreciated by hotel managers from Central Europe. On the other hand, hotel managers from Eastern Europe do not feel any significant support from either national or other public institutions. The second factor of differentiation is represented by the perception of the lack of funds. Hotel managers from Eastern Europe feel strongly about funds limitation. The coherence of both those factors is obvious in the results, as they show the same direction but opposite orientation. It has already been discussed above. When looking at the results, the authors find the perception of availability of funds to be a fundamental difference between hotel management in Central Europe and in Eastern Europe. The lack of funds is perceived more intensively in Eastern Europe than in Central Europe, particularly because of a stronger awareness of direct or indirect support for such activities by national and other public institutions in Central Europe.Social implicationsThe differentiation of the aspects mentioned above comes from the social and culture policies, company policies and business cultures between these two sub-realms. Pro-environmental actions are apparently promoted less publicly in Eastern European countries than in Central European countries. The reaction to the trend for demand of greener hotels is stronger in the West, and its hotels are more likely to have legislation requirements and public support as an incentive to adopt pro-environmental measures in their business operations.Originality/valueThe study is based on data obtained from seven countries. The results revealed a problem of the macro-environmental influence on hotels’ potential to implement environmentally sustainable approaches and procedures throughout the industry.

The health status of populations of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union underwent major changes after the fall of communism. While mortality started declining in Central Europe, mortality in Russia and most other countries of the former Soviet Union rose dramatically and has yet to improve. In terms of the socioeconomic changes, some countries (mainly Central Europe) were able to contain the fall in income and rise in income inequalities, but across the former Soviet Union gross domestic product plummeted and income inequality grew rapidly. This led to two types of inequality: first, the widening gap in mortality between countries, and second, the increasing social gradient in health and disease within countries. The thrust of our argument is that the disadvantages in health in Eastern Europe, and the growing social inequalities in health in the region, are direct results of the social changes, and that psychosocial factors played a pivotal role in the health pattern seen in Central and Eastern Europe.

Background and objectivesHIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) is a major public health concern in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia. HIV transmission in this group is growing...

Background/objectives: Inadequate HIV care for hard-to-reach populations may result in failing the UNAIDS 90–90–90 goal. Therefore, we aimed to review the HIV continuum of care and hard-to-reach populations for each step of the continuum in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe.Methods: Euro-guidelines in Central and Eastern Europe (ECEE) Network Group were created in February 2016. The aim of the network was to review the standards of HIV care in the countries of the region. Information about each stage of HIV continuum of care and hard-to-reach populations for each stage was collected through on-line surveys. Respondents were ECEE members chosen based on their expertise and involvement in national HIV care. Data sources (year 2016) used by respondents included HIV Clinics electronic databases, Institutes of Public Health, Centres for AIDS Prevention, and HIV Programme Reviews.Results: The percentage of people living with HIV (PLHIV) linked to HIV care after HIV diagnosis was ranged between 80% and 96% in Central Europe, 51% and 92% in Eastern Europe and 80% and 100% in South-Eastern Europe. The percentage of PLHIV who are on ART was ranged from 80% to 93% in Central Europe, 18% to 92% in Eastern Europe and 80% to 100% in South-Eastern Europe. The percentage of people virologically suppressed while on ART was reported as 70–95%, 12–95% and 62–97% in Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, respectively. All three regions reported people who inject drugs (PWID) as hard-to-reach population across all HIV continuum stages. Migrants were the second most reported hard-to-reach population. The proportion of late presenters among newly diagnosed ranged between 20% and 55%, 40% and 55% and 48% and 60% in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, respectively. Four countries reported ARVs’ delivery delays resulting in treatment interruptions in 2016: two (25%) in South-Eastern, one (20%) in Central and 1 (16.7%) in Eastern Europe.Conclusion: Irrespective of the diversity in national HIV epidemics, countries from all three regions reported PWIDs as hard-to-reach population across all HIV continuum stages. Some countries are close to the UNAIDS 2020 goals, others need to strive for progress. However, differences in data sources and variations in definitions limit the utility of continuum of care as a comparative tool.

Ivan T. Berend. History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. xix, 330 pp. Illustrations. Maps. Tables. Bibliography. Index. $39.95, hardcover.This synthesis of nineteenth-century Central and Eastern European history by Ivan T. Berend complements his two other works on the history of this region in the twentieth century and thus provides us with the complete authorial vision of the region's modern history. The value of this book is increased by the fact that, in comparison with a few general works dealing with the region in the twentieth century, there had been a definite lack of generalizing narratives about the area's nineteenth century. This wonderfully written book is the first synthetic work on East Central Europe's nineteenth century that has managed equally successfully to integrate social, cultural and political aspects of the region's history.Since the task of this book was to give the region its proper nineteenth-century history, the author avoids wading into hot discussions on the region's discursive construction and its political implications. Berend does believe that there are some objective features shared by all parts of the region and allowing one to speak about Central Eastern Europe. In his opinion, the countries of this region faced similar economic, social and political problems-all deriving from the developmental lag between them and Western Europe, they designed similar responses to these problems, and they faced similar consequences. Berend's Central and Eastern Europe consists of Austria-Hungary (usually excluding Austria proper), the Balkans (usually excluding Greece), and Poland.The book starts with an explanation of how the basis for the distinctiveness of the region was laid down in the early modern period. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the region's leading intellectuals were well aware of their own countries' backwardness. Just as for these intellectuals, for Berend the most important distinctive features of the region can be revealed through comparing it with the Western European core. Every chapter begins with a brief outline of the developments in Western Europe against which trends in Eastern and Central Europe are discerned and measured.First the author looks at culture. Here the differences between Eastern and Western Europe seem less unbridgeable than in social or political structures. Local thinkers were part of European intellectual life. At the centre of Berend's story is the epoch of Romanticism, which, he believes, in the ease of Central Eastern Europe was conflated with Enlightenment. This particular intellectual blend gave birth to the phenomenon crucial for understanding most of the region's developments throughout the modern period, namely-to nationalism. The author believes that romanticism left its imprint not only on this nationalism but on the totality of the region's mental pattern throughout the whole long nineteenth century.Nationalism was the intellectual movement guiding political responses in theregion to the challenges of the West. Despite the fact that the author is well aware of difficulties in distinguishing between good civic and bad ethnic nationalisms, he believes that because of their belatedness and the specific social structure of the region, the local nationalisms differed significantly from the civic and democratic nationalisms of the West. …

Besides the open settlements commonly linked with Early Slavs, another settlement type, consisting of a hillfort-like part and some small hamlets in its vicinity, is also present in the 5th/6th–7th-century AD archaeological record of Eastern and Central Europe, with concentrations in the Upper Dnieper and Middle Daugava basins. A part of these ‘hillforts’ probably served basic defensive purposes, providing shelter for the nearby communities in times of danger (Shmidt 2003, 22–23). Another use of such hillforts along the upper course of the Dnieper was suggested by Tret’yakov (Третьяков), who referred to them as ‘sanctuary hillforts’ (Tret’yakov 1958). In light of recent research, some of these sites were really used for purposes other than defence, related to the religious and funerary realm instead. By systematising and completing earlier descriptions, the hillforts in focus – of this latter type – can be characterised by their setting (rising above the surrounding landscape), specific layout of their interior, insignificant defence abilities, presence of layers with burnt bones (including humans), and the presence of artefacts (including imports and items associated with non-agricultural activities) otherwise unusual in the find material of the cultures emerging at the beginning of the Early Middle Ages in Central and East Europe (Dulinicz 2000, 85). These hillforts were likely multifunctional, serving diverse purposes and always adapting to actual demand.

Thomas Lancaster offers an insightful and profound discussion on the necessity of finding appropriate models in the study of newly evolving party systems in Europe. His commentary broadens, rather nicely, the scope and intent of my essay. He recognizes a major problem in the development of a broad body of comparative party systems literature; i.e., finding equilibrium between the generalities of broad-gauged theoretical models and the particulars of in-depth case studies. Professor Lancaster also recognizes another serious problem revolving around the capacity of models to answer and explain fully the nuances of each general context, in our case democratizing party systems in Eastern and Central Europe. While I was concerned primarily with the application of West European party systems models in the study of inchoate party systems of Central and East Europe, he takes my study a step further and suggests we look at not only the analytical value of the seminal West European party systems models, but also consider the application of theoretical frameworks employed in democratic transitions in European polities; e.g., Spain’s transition to democracy. Generally, Professor Lancaster anticipates the potential scope and depth of the academic debate that will evolve over the analytical value and utility of different types of models for the understanding of developing party systems in Central and Eastern Europe.

Data from 90 permanent broad-band stations spread over central and eastern Europe were analysed using Ps receiver functions to study the crustal and upper-mantle structure down to the mantle transition zone. Receiver functions provide valuable information on structural features, which are important for the resolution of European lithospheric dynamics. Moho depths vary from less than 25 km in extensional areas in central Europe to more than 50 km at stations in eastern Europe (Craton) and beneath the Alpine–Carpathian belt. A very shallow Moho depth can be observed at stations in the Upper Rhine Graben area (ca. 25 km), whereas, for example, stations in the SW Bohemian Massif show a significantly deeper Moho interface at a depth of 38 km. Vp/Vs ratios vary between 1.60 and 1.96, and show no clear correlation to the major tectonic units, thus probably representing local variations in crustal composition. Delayed arrivals of converted phases from the mantle transition zone are observed at many stations in central Europe, whereas stations in the cratonic area show earlier arrivals compared with those calculated from the IASP91 Earth reference model. Differential delay times between the P410s and P660s phases indicate a thickened mantle transition zone beneath the eastern Alps, the Carpathians and the northern Balkan peninsula, whereas the transition zone thickness in eastern and central Europe agrees with the IASP91 value. The thickening of the mantle transition zone beneath the eastern Alps and the Carpathians could be caused by cold, deeply subducted oceanic slabs.

Narrating Crisis and Continuity in Migration Debates in the Visegrád States