In search for a more effective EU foreign and security policy: Can Central Europe seize its momentum?
In search for a more effective EU foreign and security policy: Can Central Europe seize its momentum?

Author(s): Lucia Rybnikárová
Subject(s): Security and defense, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development, Russian war against Ukraine
Published by: EUROPEUM - Institut pro evropskou politiku
Summary/Abstract: Russia‘s war against Ukraine has recalibrated the current political balance of power in the EU. Given the events in Ukraine, considerable attention has been shifting to the CEE region. This event has the potential to bring about the end of the perceived status quo in which countries of so-called “old Europe”, like France or Germany, play an oversized, dominant role in the process of continental policymaking versus “new Europe”. However, if the CEE region aspires to be in the driving seat when it comes to the current foreign and security developments in Europe, it must manifest unity and coherence. Against this backdrop, it is necessary to explore the perceptions and preferences of the countries in the region toward EU foreign and security policy. This paper attempts to shed light on where Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia stand regarding the usage suitability of a range of EU foreign and security policy options. For this paper, Hungary, although being part of the CEE region, is not considered due to its diverging foreign and security policy priorities principally since the outbreak of the war (persistent ties to Russia, blocking of several EU aid packages to Ukraine as well as sanctions)

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