The 30th Anniversary of Viszegrad Group Creation: Historical Significance, Past Achievements and Upcoming Challenges

Abstract

Embracing the Central European historical experience, the author delves into the problem of political and economic preconditions for the creation of the union of the Central European states – the Republic of Poland, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, the Republic of Hungary, which went down in history as the Visegrád Group (V-4, В-4). The author highlights the critical steps taken by the Visegrád group countries and the past achievements throughout its 30-year activities, the peculiarities of V4 internal and external collaboration in the context of their aspirations for the EU accession, and further road-mapping in defending their positions in rather complex European integration processes. The article presents an in-depth analysis of certain V-4 member states’ actions in the context of their influence on the formation of European Union policy, in particular during their presidency of the EU Council. The author’s focus revolves around certain disparities of the Visegrád 4 member states on their strategy of further development. The push-pull factors and preconditions that induced these countries to understand the value of regional solidarity in the development of European policy priorities during the EU crisis are under study. From a 30-year perspective, this multifaceted aspect of Visegrád group 4 functioning stipulates both the research topicality and various scientists’ involvement – historians, political scientists, and lawyers. In view of that, the research article presents insights for the Visegrad group 4 creation, its historical significance, past achievements and new perspectives for cooperation with neighbouring countries, in particular with Ukraine. The objective of the research is: - to characterize the historical preconditions for the creation of the Visegrád Group; - to analyse the stages of development and enhancement of V 4 countries cooperation aimed at their incorporation into the European integration process; - to highlight the projections of fruitful cooperation between Ukraine and the international intergovernmental organization “Visegrád Four”.