Crisis as remedy? The 2009 gas crisis and its influence on the increase of energy security within Visegrad Group countries
Crisis as remedy? The 2009 gas crisis and its influence on the increase of energy security within Visegrad Group countries

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes a change of attitude among the Visegrad Group (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary) towards energy security, as a result of the 2009 gas crisis. On the one hand, the crisis fully unveiled the challenges these countries face in regard to energy security; on the other hand, it provided an important impulse for cooperation among them. This contribution studies the development of this cooperation in the periods before and after the crisis, when the first concrete steps toward increasing energy security were undertaken by the V4 countries (most importantly, the planned North–South energy corridor). It also examines the role of the EU, which supports infrastructural projects in central Europe. The paper argues that the crisis has had a positive influence on the increase of cooperation in energy security, which was previously, despite its challenging nature, largely neglected by the governments of V4 countries. The crisis thus served as a catalyst for cooperation, and paradoxically has had a positive influence on the increase of energy security in the region.

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