Visegrad Group

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Cooperation inside the Visegrad Group depends on the political situation of each country. In recent years, the alliance has drawn attention to itself with its criticism of the southern European states and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Klára Votavová, a researcher at EUROPEUM Institute, wrote her commentary for the biweekly A2.

The current format of the Visegrad Group lacks common topics; the group fragmented into two pairs that have different opinions in many areas, particularly regarding the issue of Ukraine. However, the interests of Hungary and Slovakia are not in conflict with others, despite what their leaders claim. The conflict in the Middle East, where the Czech Republic is in the minority in its full support of Israel, was also discussed on this meeting. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, commented on the situation within the V4 for TN Live.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met separately ahead of the Visegrad Group summit in Prague, where the main points of discussion were the war in Ukraine and energy security. Vít Havelka, an analyst at EUROPEUM Institute, commented on the position of the Hungarian or Slovak Prime Minister and the overall direction of the Visegrad Group for Slovakian television RTVS.

The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary met in Prague to discuss the war in Ukraine and the future direction of the Visegrad Group. According to Viktor Daňek, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, migration will be another possible common topic and Donald Tusk will become one of the most important politicians in Europe in the next years.

The new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to the Prague V4 summit asking whether the Visegrad group is still relevant. Cooperation on a high political level is complicated by the countries' different approaches towards the war in Ukraine. While the Czech Republic and Poland continue to support its interests with the same intensity, Slovakia and Hungary are reassessing them. Martin Vokálek, Executive Director of the EUROPEUM Institute, talked about the importance of the summit and the relations between Poland and the Czech Republic for ČT24.

Tatiana Mindeková wrote EU MONITOR about the importance of, often neglected, geothermal energy in the decarbonization process. She explains how geothermal energy works, what its advantages are, and, conversely, what challenges it brings. She also addresses the usage of geothermal energy in the Visegrad countries.

We present you with a report of a closed roundtable organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in cooperation with the Centre for Transport and Energy on 6 October, 2020.

For Euractiv, Jana Juzová commented on the efforts of the alliance of mayors of the Visegrad Group to obtain money from the recovery fund for metropolises.

Vít Havelka commented for Hospodářské noviny on the meeting of the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group countries due to the rescue package of the European Union.

Bartosz Bieliszczuk published a policy paper as a part of Think Visegrad platform, in which he focused on electromobility in V4 countries.

As a part of the Think Visegrad platform, Alica Kizeková published a policy paper about European Union's strategy in the Central Asia and the opportunities for Visegrad Four countries.