Vyšehrad 2008: dynamická regionálna platforma s pridanou hodnotou pre EÚ
Visegrad 2008: A Dynamic Regional Platform with Added Value for the EU

Author(s): Tomáš Strážay
Subject(s): Politics, Geography, Regional studies, International relations/trade, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)
Keywords: Slovakia; 2008; foreign policy; Visegrad; V4; EU;
Summary/Abstract: The cooperation achieved by the Visegrad members in 2008 indicates that this organization can be considered a model of good regional cooperation and, at the same time, the most successful regional initiative in Central Europe. The position of the Visegrad Four (V4) as a respected regional platform within the European Union was, in addition, further strengthened by its fifth year of EU membership. This was also demonstrated by the continually expanding foreign policy dimension of cooperation within the V4. Although the Czech Republic entered the second half of its presidency of the V4 once the celebrations had died down for what can be considered one of the most significant successes of the V4 as a whole in the post-integration period – the Visegrad countries’ entry into the Schengen system in December 2007, the year 2008 also brought with it new challenges and problems, which the individual Visegrad countries had to face, individually or as a whole. Given the extensive and multilayered nature of the Visegrad agenda, this section mainly focuses on the most important issues or topics concerning the foreign policy dimension of Visegrad cooperation. The paper presents a summary of two Visegrad presidencies – the Czech and the Polish, and also focuses on the more problematic areas of the agenda, which either remain unfulfilled for now, or where the Visegrad countries did not manage to achieve a consensus. There is a special section focusing on Slovakia’s merits during the two presidencies, while the conclusion presents a more general summary reflecting the development of Visegrad cooperation over the course of 2008.

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