Trendy vo vyšehradskej zahraničnej politike 2019

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Dátum publikácie: 13. novembra 2019

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The objective of the “Trends of Visegrad Foreign Policy” project was to identify the views held on foreign policy by those that design, influence and implement this policy. It also sought to compare the views of foreign-policy communities in Visegrad countries. Respondents (mainly civil servants, politicians, researchers/analysts and journalists) answered 21 questions related to bilateral partners of the V4 states, issues important for their foreign policy, European integration, the EU external affairs and the Visegrad Group.

The results are available in three forms:

Main Findings

  • Germany and USA are regarded as the most important partners for all Visegrad countries.
  • The mutual perception of importance among the Visegrad countries is strong, Perceptions of the overall quality of relations of the Visegrad countries to one another differ.
  • Coordination in the EU is evaluated as the most successful area of Visegrad cooperation and also the one that is wished to grow the most in importance in the next 5 years.
  • Membership of the European Union is seen to be almost unanimously beneficial in all Visegrad countries.
  • The overwhelming majority expects climate and environmental issues, asylum and migration policy, the digital agenda, CFSP/CSDP, relations with the UK, and energy policy to gain more or somewhat more attention on the European agenda in the next five years. Most appear as priorities set out by Ursula von der Leyen.
  • The Visegrad Group overall is not perceived as a concerted, constructive or especially influential actor in the European Union.
  • There is no widespread appetite to immediately suspend sanctions against Russia. Visegrad stakeholders overwhelmingly think those should remain in place until Russia fully respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
  • EU-US relations, but not bilateral ones, are expected to worsen in the field of economy and trade, while both EU and bilateral ties in security and defense are mostly foreseen to remain of the current quality.
  • Visegrad stakeholders regard China’s actions as a threat to their country’s and the EU’s security.