Abstract
ABSTRACT During the last decade, more than before, Germany has been pushed to take increasing responsibility for international affairs, including security, and move into a leadership position. Visegrad countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – seem to be proper partners to follow German leadership as they are economically and in most cases politically tied to Germany. However, in recent years several discrepancies in the fields of soft as well as hard security have appeared between Germany and the Visegrad countries – most prominently the refugee crisis, Energiewende and the strengthening of collective defence military capacities on NATO’s eastern flank – substantially affecting the Visegrad countries’ readiness to be led by Germany. Having explored three policy areas where contestation appeared – migration policy, energy policy and the policy of NATO’s deterrence in Eastern Europe – we conclude that rather than as aleader, Germany is perceived as a source of unilateral pressure in Central Europe.
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