Patterns of Migration in Central Europe

The region called ‘Eastern Europe’ in Korea lies between three European seas - the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Black Sea. In the Polish academic world, this region was called Central Europe, Central-Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Southern Europe, or several other ways, depending on time and conditions. And each of these names had justification to be called that. In this paper, the authors will focus on the use of the term ‘Central Europe’ and make the argument. Based on the research achievements of the Institute of Political Studies, the Polish Academy of Sciences, the current discourse in Polish academic world is the subject of this thesis. Numerous attempts have been made to define the concept of Central Europe in Polish literature on international relations. In this process, controversy often arose over which countries should be included in the Central European region. In this paper, while developing the thesis on Central European terminology, it was divided into four stages by period. With the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian War in 2022, the concept of ‘Central-Eastern Europe’, which was widely used in Polish academic world, began to lose its reason for existence. In the authors’ opinion, it seems logical to refer to the territory of the Three Seas Initiative as Central Europe. In other words, we conclude that it is reasonable to call Central Europe the group of 12 countries of the Three Seas Initiative, which are members of the European Union.

Hydatidosis (also known as echinococcosis or hydatid disease) is one of Europe’s neglected infections of poverty. Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is endemic in Southwestern and Eastern parts of Europe. Although alveolar echinococcosis was considered a rare disease in Central Europe, recent studies have shown its emerging nature and demonstrated that the endemic areas for this parasite are broader than previously thought. This chapter aims not only to review but also to bring to light new epidemiological and clinical data regarding hydatidosis of the central nervous system (CNS) in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe where information was available. At the same time, we intend to shed light on particular or interesting cases reported in the literature. Special emphasis will be given to the casuistic from Romania, listed in 1995 among the countries with the highest prevalence of CE worldwide and where, in the past, at least one person from 45.5 % of its localities underwent surgery for CE. Although rare in Central and Eastern Europe, hydatidosis of the CNS should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of any patient with seizures, focal neurological deficits, and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, especially when that person comes from regions with high disease prevalence.

Bank Privatisation in Central and Eastern Europe Through the View of the Western European Stock Markets

The rule of law is a juristic concept implying an image of an orderly society respecting the rights of individuals enforced by stable institutions. This image proved attractive in many parts of the world which have known little respect for individuals’ rights, notably in the Eastern and Central Europe after 1989. However, since 2010 in some of these societies, political forces have recently come to power whose actions challenge or undermine the rule of law. The crisis in Hungary and Poland is flagrant, but it is also imminent, for example, in Bulgaria and Romania. In this chapter, it is argued that Norbert Elias’s theory allows us both to theorise the rule of law as part of long-lasting social processes and to explain its crisis. The author proposes using Central and Eastern Europe as a laboratory for figurational sociology to make the case relatable for researchers studying the rule of law in other regions that have undergone systemic transformation.

Changes in dynamics of excess mortality rates and net survival after diagnosis of follicular lymphoma or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: comparison between European population-based data (EUROCARE-5)

Migrants are prone to poor working conditions in high-risk industries, yet little is known about their mortality risk compared to local-born workers. This study compares all-cause and cause-specific mortality between foreign-born and local-born workers, and identifies at-risk foreign-born workers. A nationwide register-based cohort study was performed using data on migrant workers obtaining residence permits in Denmark during 2015–22. Comparison group comprised Danish-born workers matched by age and sex. Survival analysis using extended Cox model was used to estimate all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Subgroup analysis was conducted by region of birth, economic sector, and occupation. Male migrant workers from Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia had higher risk of all-cause mortality than Danish-born workers (HR = 1.30 [95% CI: 1.09–1.54]), attributed to accident deaths (HR = 1.64 [1.06–2.53]), whereas migrants from other regions had lower risk. Migrant workers from these regions were more likely to work in high-risk economic sectors and occupations, such as agriculture and construction. When stratified by economic sector and by occupation, among the elementary occupations, migrant workers from these regions still had a higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.70 [1.10–2.64]) and accident mortality (HR = 1.51 [1.22–1.85]) than Danish-born workers. Migrant workers from Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia are more likely to die from accidents than Danish-born workers. This increased risk was partially explained by their higher representation in at-risk sectors and occupations. There is a need to better understand the structural determinants of health faced by these migrants, particularly in elementary occupations, to prevent avoidable deaths.

In late 2025, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington–Seattle released the estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (GBD 2023). We now report the time trends in myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) burden from 1990 to 2023, across GBD Super Regions, GBD Regions, and countries stratified by the Socio-Demographic index (SDI), according to the 2016 revision to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of myeloid neoplasms and acute leukemia [1]. The GBD framework classifies all countries into seven Super Regions—High-Income; Latin America and Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa; North Africa and Middle East; South Asia; Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania; and Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia—based on epidemiological similarity, cause-of-death patterns, and geographic proximity. These Super Regions are further subdivided into 21 GBD Regions [2]. The SDI is a composite measure of national development status, calculated as the geometric mean of scaled values for total fertility rate among females under 25, average years of education for individuals aged 15 and older, and lag-distributed income per capita [3]. Countries are grouped into five SDI quintiles: Low, Low-middle, Middle, High-middle, and High. These classifications capture heterogeneity in population structures, governance, and healthcare systems. For reference, other international organizations use different regional classifications—for example, the six WHO regions, the seven World Bank regions, and the World Bank income-based groupings [4, 5]. The burden of MDS/MPN was assessed using age-standardized rates for incidence (ASIR), mortality (ASMR), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (ASDR) in 1990 and 2023, along with their annual percent changes (APCs). DALYs are defined as the sum of years lived with disability (YLDs) and years of life lost (YLLs). Rates were reported per 100 000 person-years and standardized using the GBD global reference population, accounting for changes in population size and age structure. All estimates include 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), and differences were considered statistically significant when the 95% UIs did not overlap. MDS/MPN-related survival was approximated using the age-standardized mortality-to-incidence ratio (ASMIR), derived from point estimates of ASIR and ASMR for 1990 and 2023. The methodology underlying GBD estimates has been detailed elsewhere [6-9]. Across the seven GBD Super Regions, none of them recorded a decline in ASIR, ASMR, and ASDR (Table 1). In particular, ASIR and ASMR significantly increased everywhere, except for Sub-Saharan Africa, where both were stable over time; similarly, ASDR worsened in five Super Regions, except for Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with unchanged estimates. Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia recorded the most severe boost in the three metrics; on the other side, MDS/MPN occurred very rarely among Sub-Saharan Africa countries. ASMIR markedly worsened across all GBD Super Regions, including High-Income countries too: its value widely ranged from 6.3 to 36.8 in 1990, from 9.5 to 60.7 in 2023. The worst performance for ASMIR in 2023 occurred in South Asia: being almost stable the incidence rate, that for mortality doubled along the study period. Among SDI quintiles, none of them showed improvements in ASIR, ASMR, and ASDR. As for incidence, its age-standardized rate over time increased in three quintiles (except the Low and Low-middle SDI), while those for mortality and DALYs among four ones, except only the Low SDI quintile (Table 2). Of note, a linear relationship linked the SDI quintiles to the increase of the three age-standardized rates, as already discovered for the other oncohematological neoplasms. As happened among Super Regions, ASMIR considerably rose, doubling across the first four SDI quintiles, except the High one; it ranged from 10.3 to 23.1 in 1990, from 17.0 to 40.7 in 2023. Disaggregating the 7 Super Regions into the 21 GBD Regions, ASIR significantly rose in fifteen Regions (across all Super Regions, with the most severe trajectory in the High-Income Asia Pacific Region), was stable in other five, and improved only in Western Sub-Saharan Africa (Table 3). ASMR and ASDR trends mirrored each other: both metrics significantly worsened in thirteen Regions (with the best/worst performances in Oceania/Andean Latin America GBD Regions for mortality rate, and High-Income North America/Andean Latin America for DALYs rate, respectively). These thirteen Regions belong to five Super Regions (except South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa). As for ASMR and ASDR, both were stable in the remaining eight GBD Regions; none experienced more favorable mortality and DALYs rates over time. The author has nothing to report. Roberto Passera acknowledges unpaid participation on the Data Safety Monitoring Board of the clinical trial “Consolidation with ADCT-402 (loncastuximab tesirine) after immunochemotherapy: a phase II study in BTKi-treated/ineligible Relapse/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) patient”; unpaid membership in the EBMT Statistical Committee, European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation; previous membership of the IRB/IEC Comitato Etico AO SS. Antonio e Biagio Alessandria-ASL AL-VC; all outside the submitted work. All data regarding the GBD Study 2023 are available at https://ghdx.healthdata.org.

<ns3:p>This paper presents two major issues. Firstly, the impact of Russian aggression on how security is perceived in Central Europe, and secondly, the importance of changing security policies, with a special focus on the defense industry. Our findings in these areas will permit us to answer the main question of the research - on the reconstruction and new role of the defense industry in Central Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The arms industry was one of the pillars of the Cold War economic and political system, and was a crucial asset in the blocks’ rivalry. The collapse of the Soviet Union marked the beginning of a structural transformation in Central Europe. Released from the Soviet grip, countries in the region turned to Western institutions and became an important part of them. The year 1989 seemed to close a period of tough historical experience, and the 30 years that followed were a time of peace and growing prosperity. Yet a resurgence of Russian imperialism brought old anxieties back to the surface and ultimately caused Europe’s architecture of security to falter. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 released the demons of the past, and has seriously reoriented politics - not only in Central and Eastern Europe.</ns3:p>

The Limits of the European Union's Transformative Power: Pathologies of Europeanization and Rule of Law Reform in Central and Eastern Europe

Twenty Years of PostcommunismDeepening Dissatisfaction Ivan Krastev (bio) It was "the best of years." Reflecting on the historical significance of Central Europe's revolutions, Robert Cooper wrote that "the year 1989 divides the past from the future almost as clearly as the Berlin Wall divided the East from the West."1 The revolutions of '89 turned the will of the people as expressed in free and fair elections into the only source of legitimate government that modern societies were ready to accept. Centuries-old arguments critical of the desirability or feasibility of democratic regimes virtually disappeared. Democracy may not have run out of enemies, but it ran out of critics. The revolutionary crowds on the streets of Prague and East Berlin—peaceful, triumphant, and insisting on their right to live in a "normal society"—provided the ultimate validation for the superiority of liberal democracy as a form of government. The contradictions that had been afflicting Europe's democratic experience over the last two centuries seemed finally to have reached a resolution. Inspired by the spread of democratic regimes following the demise of communism, political theorists became more interested in the process of democratization than in the transformations taking place within existing democracies. In the years immediately following 1989, little attention was paid to the impact of that year's epochal events on the way that democracy was beginning to be perceived by its own citizens. No longer was democracy only the least undesirable form of government—the best of a bad bunch, if you will. Instead, it was coming to seem like the best form of government, period. People were starting to look to democratic regimes not merely to save them from something worse, but to deliver freedom, prosperity, and honest and effective governance all in one big package. Today, twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there is a growing [End Page 113] ambiguity about the historical significance of 1989 and about the state of democracy in Europe (particularly Central Europe). Trust in democratic institutions (including elections) is steadily declining. The political class is viewed as corrupt and self-interested. Disenchantment with democracy appears to be growing. According to one 2008 survey, only 21 percent of Lithuanians, 24 percent of Bulgarians, 24 percent of Romanians, 30 percent of Hungarians, and 38 percent of Poles believe that they have benefited from the fall of the Berlin Wall.2 The revisionists' hour has arrived. In his new book Uncivil Society, the U.S. historian and political scientist Stephen Kotkin powerfully argues that, the Polish case aside, the communist collapse across Central and Eastern Europe is best understood as the implosion of an ineffective and demoralized communist establishment (the "uncivil society" of his title) than by a revolt of civil society.3 The people on the streets of Prague and Sofia were not so much revolutionary citizens as dissatisfied consumers. The idea of civil society has long been a magical construct, one that has somehow succeeded in simultaneously satisfying modernization theorists' belief in the historical mission of the middle class, the New Left's fascination with spontaneous activism, neoliberals' affection for antistatism, and Western donors' fondness for English-speaking NGOs. But today that construct is losing its appeal. 1989 and All That The new wave of revisionism does not limit itself to reappraisals of what really happened in 1989 and who did it. Instead, the revisionists seek in the first place to alter our understanding of who were the overall winners (and who were the net losers) from the change. There are many today who believe that it was not the people but the elites who broke free and collected the jackpot of 1989. The end of communism, this account goes, set in motion a process that has liberated ex-communist elites from fear (of purges), from guilt (for being rich), from ideology, from the chains of community, from national loyalties, and even from the necessity to govern. Was George Orwell right, one wants to ask, when he wrote that "all revolutions are failures, but they are not all the same failure"?4 My argument here, however, is not that the revolutions of 1989 were a failure. What I...

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.

Aim In addition to the traditionally recognized Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 ka) refuge areas in the Mediterranean region, more northerly LGM distributions for temperate and boreal taxa in central and eastern Europe are increasingly being discussed based on palaeoecological and phylogeographical evidence. Our aim was to investigate the potential refuge locations using species distribution modelling to estimate the geographical distribution of suitable climatic conditions for selected rodent species during the LGM.Location Eurasia.Methods Presence/absence data for seven rodent species with range limits corresponding to the limits of temperate or boreal forest or arctic tundra were used in the analysis. We developed predictive distribution models based on the species present‐day European distributions and validated these against their present‐day Siberian ranges. The models with the best predictors of the species distributions across Siberia were projected onto LGM climate simulations to assess the distribution of climatically suitable areas.Results The best distribution models provided good predictions of the present‐day Siberian ranges of the study species. Their LGM projections showed that areas with a suitable LGM climate for the three temperate species (Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus sylvaticus and Microtus arvalis) were largely restricted to the traditionally recognized southern refuge areas, i.e. mainly in the Mediterranean region, but also southernmost France and southern parts of the Russian Plain. In contrast, suitable climatic conditions for the two boreal species (Clethrionomys glareous and Microtus agrestis) were predicted as far north as southern England and across southern parts of central and eastern Europe eastwards into the Russian Plain. For the two arctic species (Lemmus lemmus and Microtus oeconomus), suitable climate was predicted from the Atlantic coast eastward across central Europe and into Russia.Main conclusions Our results support the idea of more northerly refuge areas in Europe, indicating that boreal species would have found suitable living conditions over much of southern central and eastern Europe and the Russian Plain. Temperate species would have primarily found suitable conditions in the traditional southern refuge areas, but interestingly also in much of the southern Russian Plain.

The present article analyses the concept of Central and Eastern Europe. The term Central and Eastern Europe is defined, the evolution stages of concept and transformation of the term are described as well as the role and significance of Central and Eastern Europe in contemporary international relations are characterized. The author submits that the term Central and Eastern Europe is the most viable and efficient in comparison with the terms Central Europe, Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, East-Central Europe. This definition has mainly political interpretation. Central and Eastern Europe does not contain as much myths, stereotypes and emotions as another equivalent terms. It means the determined geographical, economic, cultural space and political landscape which was included into Soviet bloc during the Cold War. The region of Central and Eastern Europe has specific features and reflects the trends which give us the opportunity to confirm its significant role in international relations. This space is at the core of the European project and the regional security.

Les premiers peuplements de l'Europe centrale et de l'Est

If we reflect on the “photobook phenomenon” that has been developing for a quarter of a century, it will lead us to the verification of the research on the subject in Central and Eastern Europe. The following text was directly triggered by the exhibition and catalog: Photobloc: Central Europe in Photobooks opened at the International Cultural Center in Krakow in 2019. The subject of the project was the 20th-century history of Central Europe told in photobooks. However, it seems that in the 21st century, Central and Eastern European photobooks attract the attention of researchers and collectors from all over the world, and subsequent nominations and awards confirm their high-quality artistic production. The shift of attention to the present day forces the verification of cognitive categories that are useful for cataloging and evaluating 20th-century books. The text is an insight into possible chapters, motifs and narratives concerning photobooks, and so the essay is divided into the following parts: the first deals with a new definition of photobook, the second with a cliche of the otherness of the region, the third is a reassumption of topographic photography, the fourth focuses on issues of history in Central and Eastern Europe, while the fifth and final part is about an intense political atmosphere influencing the production of photobooks. All proposed new chapters are supported by examples of the most important books published in the 21st century. It is an attempt to create an initial catalog of canonical books, as well as an attempt to answer the title question: what makes contemporary Central European photobooks so different and so attractive?&#x0D; &#x0D; Article received: April 20, 2022; Article accepted: June 21, 2022; Published online: September 15, 2022; Original scholarly paper