Lithuania Quits China’s 17+1:
Lithuania said it was quitting China’s 17+1 cooperation forum with central and eastern European states that include other EU members, calling it “divisive”.
- Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEE, China-CEEC) is an initiative by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote business and investment relations between China and 16 countries of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC).
- The format was founded in 2012 in Warsaw.
- Earlier it was known as 17+1, but after Lithuania quits it in May 2021 it is known as 16+1.
- Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in Central Europe, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (the Balkans), usually meaning former communist states from the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact in Europe.
- Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of Europe.
- Its capital is Vilnius.
