Central and Eastern Europe Soviet Union; the independent states in former Yugoslavia (which were not considered part of the Eastern bloc); and the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (which chose not to join the CIS with the other 12 former republics of the USSR). The CEE countries are further subdivided by their accession status to the European Union (EU): the eight first-wave accession countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Slovenia), the two second-wave accession countries that joined on 1 January 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria) and the third-wave accession country that
Brazil–European Union relations organization of long-standing cooperation between the two areas. Several initiatives have sought to formalize these close links at all levels, beginning with the Framework Agreement for Cooperation between the European Economic Community and Brazil in 1992. On July 4, 2007, the European Union, under Portuguese presidency, and Brazil held the 1st EU-Brazil summit. The EU and Brazil exchanged views on a number of bilateral, regional and global issues. They agreed to enhance their longstanding bilateral relationship and in particular to reinforce the political dialogue at the highest political level. At the summit, the EU and Brazil established a comprehensive strategic