Regional Initiatives in Central Europe in 2005 – from Topical Specialization to Complementarity of Approaches?
Regional Initiatives in Central Europe in 2005 – from Topical Specialization to Complementarity of Approaches?

Author(s): Tomáš Strážay
Subject(s): Politics, International relations/trade
Published by: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)
Keywords: Slovakia; Central Europe; region; initiatives; 2005; Visegrad; V4; Ukraine;
Summary/Abstract: In 2005, the development in the most significant groupings in Central Europe – the Visegrad Four (V4), Central European Initiative (CEI) and Regional Partnership (RP) – fully reflected the 2004 accession of the eight states of Central and Eastern Europe to the European Union. Thus, the new member states had, for the first time in history, the opportunity to participate actively in the EU policies whilst the EU itself became the most important tool of their own foreign policy. 2005 was also the year of increasing topical specialization of the regional groupings as far as the regional priorities are concerned (especially V4 and RP). While V4 countries focused on the countries of the EU Eastern neighborhood, especially on the Ukraine and Belarus, RP’s priorities remained in the Western Balkans. The main goals of the Central European Initiative are rather general due to its internal heterogeneity, considering the fact that its members are countries of Eastern as well as South-East Europe.

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