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
Secretary of State for the European Union Secretary of State for the European Union The Secretary of State for the European Union (SEUE) is a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain. The Secretary of State for the European Union is responsible for the formulation and execution of the policy of Spain within the European Union. Likewise, he assists the Foreign Minister in the formulation and execution of the foreign policy of Spain in the geographical area corresponding to the countries of the European Union, candidate countries, countries of the European Economic Area and other European countries.