Democratic Participation, Integration, and Trust within the Visegrád Group: Twenty years since European Union Integration
Democratic Participation, Integration, and Trust within the Visegrád Group: Twenty years since European Union Integration

Author(s): Henry Barrett
Subject(s): National Economy, Governance, International relations/trade, Political behavior, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: EUROPEUM - Institut pro evropskou politiku
Keywords: Visegrád Group; EU integration; democratic participation; institutional trust; Euroscepticism; populism; corruption; national interests; Europeanness; rule of law;
Summary/Abstract: The development of the European Union (EU) in the 21st century has been marked by notably transformative events, increasing at a seemingly exponential rate; the Great Recession of 2008, the Eurozone debt crisis of 2010, the migrant crisis of 2015, Brexit in 2016, rule of law backsliding escalating in 2018, the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Despite the punditry’s1 cyclically2 mimetic3 declarations that the European project faces its decisive breaking point and imminent collapse, the political union has consistently endured. Certain pockets of EU Member States have responded to these various crises by operating within distinct social, economic, and historic cohorts. One key manifestation of this “minilateralism”4 among EU Member States is the Visegrád Group (V4)—composed of Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. There exist other alliances within the EU Member States—Benelux, the EU Three, or the Weimar Triangle. However, the V4 stands out in 2024 as a particularly notable grouping of EU Member States for a host of reasons. Considering this year is the 20th anniversary of EU enlargement to these countries, it is a particularly auspicious time to assess their current state of integration into the EU project.

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