The Visegrad Group and the European Union’s ‘Eastern’ Dimension

Dangerfield, Martin (2009) The Visegrad Group and the European Union’s ‘Eastern’ Dimension. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

The 2004 enlargement of the European Union (EU) changed the dynamics of its engagement with the former Soviet Republics which now constitute the Eastern neighbourhood. As well as manifold implications of the eastward shift of the EU border and ‘acquisition of a shared neighbourhood with Russia, the enlarged EU now incorporated new member states with foreign policy concerns focused mostly on the Eastern neighbours. Four of the new member states – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – brought into the EU with them their own subregional alliance in the form of the Visegrad Group (VG). Since 2004 the ‘Visegrad 4’ (V4) have been attempting to develop an effective multilateral contribution to EU ‘Eastern Policy’ and to reform processes in the WNIS. This paper argues that while there has been some evidence of an effective VG multilateral approach, in both inputs to EU Eastern policy and modest support for broader ‘Europeanisation’ processes in WNIS, so far the VG has failed to achieve a lead role in EU Eastern policy and that a range of obstacles have limited the multilateral approach of the V4 in general.

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