The Crisis around Ukraine and Security Issues in the Visegrad Four Countries

Abstract

The subject of the study is the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on foreign and defense policy V4. The statements and actions of the Visegrad Group on the Ukrainian issue, which were ahead of the European Union's activity in their efficiency, are being investigated. However, the consolidation of the "quartet" countries has already been seriously tested in the first months and even weeks of the crisis, which will subsequently allow us to talk about the existence of a significant split between the participants. In addition, V4's activities regarding the Ukrainian crisis were mostly in the nature of a reaction to the events taking place, which did not offer any constructive strategies for resolving the process. The novelty of the scientific research in the framework of this article is expressed in the analysis of normative legal acts, statements of the Visegrad Group, demonstrating the different degree of response of V4 to various stages of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as the change in approaches to the defense policy of the "quartet" countries in the specified period of time. Also, the previously unexplored Action Plan of the Visegrad Group Defense Cooperation will be presented in the 2020 edition, which will indicate a wide range of challenges and threats, some of which do not directly relate to the security of the "quartet" countries, which indicates the actual disappearance of a purely regional component in the defense policy of the Visegrad Group.