The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been called a number of things since the fall of communism, now more than 20 years ago. Some lump the whole lot of former communist nations and post-Soviet republics into the convenient catch-all category of “New Europe,” which is certainly fair enough.
In some cases, groups of countries have formed their own loose affiliations and given themselves cool names like the Višegrad Group (aka Višegrad Four, aka the V4), which is comprised of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia; or the “Near Abroad” nations of the former Soviet Union. In other cases, names like the “Eastern Partnership” have been imposed upon them by bodies like the European Union and the United Nations.
But what do you do when you’re trying to create a blog that chronicles the developments in the countries that make up this “New Europe?”
The obvious choice was, in fact, “New Europe,” but it turns out that one has been taken. I angled hard for VišeBlog – but was soundly shot down by my colleagues. (“Too limiting, geographically,” my editor told me. “Plus, it sounds ridiculous.”) I think there were a few half-hearted attempts to use the words Bloc, Curtain and Goulash in some capacity, but thankfully, those didn’t go very far.
In the end we agreed that CEE Changes (get it?) perfectly summarized what we’re trying to achieve. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) exist … and 20 years after the fall of communism, they’re constantly changing. Easy enough.
Plus it’s a pun (Thank you, Claire Compton). And we love our puns, here.
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