Hungary, together with several Central and Eastern European countries, signed the Prague Declaration (Prague Declaration) aimed at bolstering cooperation and knowledge sharing in artificial intelligence (AI), the scientific and technology minister, Tanács Zoltán, announced on his Facebook page on Thursday. The declaration marks a coordinated regional effort to deepen collaboration in AI development and application.
Where and who
The declaration was signed at the Central and Eastern European AI Summit (CEE AI Summit) held in Prague, where Tanács Zoltán participated on Thursday. According to the minister's statement, representatives from a majority of participating countries attended the summit and endorsed the declaration.
Priority areas
Participants agreed that improving public administration and public services is among the most important application areas for AI. The ministers and delegations emphasized that digitizing public administration and creating fast, intelligent citizen services can foster more informed and widespread use of AI technologies.
AI safety was a key topic during the discussions; signatories highlighted the need for secure systems and trustworthy AI deployments in the public sector.
Regional strategy: compete with specialised solutions
Tanács Zoltán underlined that regional cooperation should capitalise on Central and Eastern Europe's specific strengths and competitive advantages. Given the region's role as a significant manufacturing base in Europe, participants argued it is not necessarily productive to compete by building the world's largest general‑purpose large language models (LLMs). Instead, they advocated focusing on narrow, industry‑specific AI solutions where the region holds strong advantages — for example in drug development, industrial manufacturing, automotive production, robotics, and logistics.
Why this matters
Signing the Prague Declaration formalises a regional approach to AI development and application, particularly in public sector digitalisation and secure technology deployment. The agreement can facilitate faster knowledge transfer, joint projects, and the development of shared standards among the signatory countries, potentially enhancing the region's competitiveness in industrial and governmental AI applications over time.
Cover image credit: MTI Photo/Kovács Attila
Tags: artificial intelligence, summit, robotics, digitalisation, cooperation, Prague, public administration, Central and Eastern Europe, AI
