V4

The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, commented for Visegrad Insight. Žiga Faktor points out that the centre-left opposition parties united in an informal coalition known as the "Constitutional Arch Coalition" have not coordinated as closely as the opposition parties in the Czech Republic, which have formed two coalition blocs, the centre-right SPOLU and the centrist PirStan.

Jakub Ferenčík wrote a blog on the current topic: The Sixth Sanctions Package & the Visegrad Group’s Reliance on Putin’s Gas. Russia's aggression in Ukraine has necessitated another package of sanctions, this time in the energy sector. Due to the lack of alternatives for gas supplies, the Visegrad Four countries had a problem with the implementation of the latest sanctions package. In the end, the EU found a consensus and introduced exemptions for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

The Think Visegrad platform, which brings together think tanks from the Visegrad countries, including the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, is offering 8 visiting fellowships to non-Visegrad expert fellows for the period Autumn/Winter of 2022. The duration of fellowships varies from 6 to 8 weeks (based on agreement with the hosting institute).

The director of our Brussel's office, Žiga Faktor, gave a commentary to World Politics Review on their new article Germany's New Government Could Spell Trouble for the Visegrad Four. The New German Government had been getting positive reviews even before it took office in early December. But not everyone is pleased with the new coalition government, one of which is Viktor Orban.

We would like to invite you to the fourth debate from the EU-Pacific talks series titled "Japan – V4 relations – more central but still European" The debate will take place online on the 11th of January and will be broadcasted on our Facebook page.

As part of a study visit to the Brussels office of the Think Visegrad platform, a publication by Tamáš Boros was created, which focuses on the issue of poverty in the Visegrad countries. The document outlines the current situation in the region, as despite robust economic growth in the V4 countries, unemployment is still much higher than in Western Europe.

The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, wrote a report on the panel discussion that took place in a hybrid form in Brussels. During the panel, speakers discussed the latest developments in the NATO Strategic Concept and European defence autonomy debate. In addition, they focused on how Central and Eastern Europe, in particular countries of the Visegrad group, affect the process.

What can the upcoming French Presidency of the Council of the European Union mean for the Czech Republic, especially given that it will be immediately followed by the Czech Presidency? Can it be assumed that France and the V4 countries will converge on energy issues and move away from, for example, Germany, which is striving for nuclear-free and carbon-free energy? Does nuclear energy have the potential to become green energy for the French? How do France and the V4 countries need or not need Nord Stream 2? These and other questions were answered by analyst Kateřina Davidová on Czech Radio.

Peter Stepper, Senior Research Fellow, Head of Euroatlantic Program for Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade wrote a policy paper titled "V4 in Brussels – A reality check of the international perspective on Visegrad cooperation".

Our Director Zdeněk Beránek has contributed to a piece by Robert Anderson for Intellinews. He tackles Zeman´s stand on the Visegrad Four partnership and his obstruction to shift the foreign policy of the Czech republic towards a focus on human rights.

We would like to invite you to a conference titled "30 Years of Visegrad: Role of the V4 countries in shaping the future of the EU". The debate will take place on Monday, 22nd of November 2021 starting from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. The event will take place in Brussels and will be live-streamed online.

Our research fellow Vít Havelka contributed to the publication "MINILATERAL COOPERATION IN THE EU: Internal Cohesion, Group Dynamics, and Voting Behaviour of Selected State Blocks", published by the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He is the author of a chapter on the Visegrad Group.