A study by the Institute of Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has ranked Lithuania third in terms of progress achieved in the first year of European Union membership, the business daily Verslo Zinios reported.
The study, which ranked Slovenia first and the Czech Republic second, compared the progress of the new EU member states based on the following criteria: stability, macroeconomic situation, competitiveness and integration levels, as well as representation of social, legal and national interests in the EU.
"The analysis of the countries shows that other countries are unlikely to catch up with Slovenia soon, though other positions can change any time," according to the Hungarian institute, which is one of the most influential economic policy organizations in Central Europe.
Estonia was ranked fifth and Latvia eighth.