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21. Is the “show-the-flag” strategy relevant for Visegrad countries in securing the EU?

Author:
Hana N. Hlaváčková
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
The European security environment has changed and the EU has become more independent in its security policy. New threats faced by the EU in 2014 (the migration crises) and other remaining threats (such as terrorism, organised crime, piracy) need solving by its greater involvement in the region. One problem that the EU tries to solve is the inconsistency of member states in security issues. In this article, we focus on the V4 group and their opinions towards EU security. This article examines strategies adopted by small/new EU member states to protect European borders and European territories and regions outside the EU that affect their security. For a long time, the V4 countries only participated sporadically in EU missions. The article shows what changes took place and what were the reasons for the decision to participate or not in the EU activities. The article raises the question of whether the showthe-flag strategy adopted by the V4 countries and their participation in EU missions is relevant for ensuring European security nowadays.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Politics, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and United States of America

22. Slovak-Hungarian reconciliation and lessons for the Western Balkans

Author:
Nikolett Garai and Tomás Strázay
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
Slovak-Hungarian relations have constantly been the most sensitive in the V4. The relationship between Slovakia and Hungary was problematic already in the 1990s even though the fall of communist regimes in Central Europe and the prospects of integration in Euro-Atlantic structures promised the possibility of a new era of reconciliation. It became evident that membership on multi-lateral platforms - like the EU or V4 - alone could not be the panacea solving all problematic issues between Slovakia and Hungary as tensions continued to be exacerbated after the EU accession while V4 cooperation deliberately avoided sensitive bilateral issues.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations, European Union, History, and Reconciliation
Political Geography:
Europe, Hungary, and Slovakia

23. Looking into Eurasia - A review of 2017: the year in politics

Author:
Anne De Tinguy, Bayram Balci, David Cadier, Isabelle Facon, Clémentine Fauconnier, Marie-Hélène Mandrillon, Anaïs Marin, Dominique Menu, and Ioulia Shukan
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI)
Abstract:
Looking into Eurasia : the year in politics provides some keys to understand the events and phenomena that have left their imprint on a region that has undergone major mutation since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991: the post-soviet space. With a cross-cutting approach that is no way claims to be exhaustive, this study seeks to identify the key drivers, the regional dynamics and the underlying issues at stake
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Corruption, Crime, Economics, Globalization, Human Rights, Nationalism, Political Economy, Natural Resources, Territorial Disputes, Global Markets, Finance, Europeanization, Memory, and Borders
Political Geography:
Russia, Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, and European Union

24. Security Sector Reform and Sustaining Peace Proceedings of the High-Level Roundtable

Author:
Vincenza Scherrer and Alba Bescos Pou
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
On 23 April 2018 in New York, Slovakia and South Africa, on behalf of the UN Group of Friends of SSR, co-hosted a High-Level Roundtable on Security Sector Reform and Sustaining Peace. The event took place on the eve of the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace” and was organized with the support of the Security Sector Reform Unit of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the Bureau for Policy and Program Support at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD). The High-Level Roundtable was the third in a series of three high-level events held in the period of a year. It was preceded by a High-Level Dialogue on Global Experiences in SSR, hosted in New York in May 2017 – especially a seminar on “The Nexus between SSR, Conflict Prevention and Peace Sustainment” co-hosted by South Africa and Slovakia, and a seminar on “Conflict Prevention and Peace Sustainment on the African Continent” co-hosted by South Africa and Senegal – as well as a High-Level Conference on the “Role of Security Sector Reform in Sustaining Peace: Challenges and Opportunities” that was hosted by Slovakia on 5-6 June 2017 in Bratislava. These events served to highlight important challenges to SSR support in the context of sustaining peace that needed to be addressed, and to develop a series of recommendations worth pursuing further. The High-Level Roundtable on Security Sector Reform and Sustaining Peace held on 23 April 2018 sought to build on important insights from these past events, as well as on the body of relevant policy and research that has been developed over the past year in the areas of sustaining peace and SSR.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Peacekeeping, and Reform
Political Geography:
Africa, New York, Europe, South Africa, United Nations, Slovakia, and United States of America

25. Refugee Crisis in Europe: The Case Studies of Sweden and Slovakia

Author:
Bedrudin Brljavic
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
Europe as a continent has throughout its history been one of the most popular destinations for migrants and foreigners who have viewed the Old continent as a place of better social and economic possibilities. However, recently most European states and its publics have not been so willing to accept the refugees fleeing the wars and violence. For instance, there have been only a few countries such as Sweden and Germany which have openly welcomed the migrants over the past years. On the other hand, some EU states such as Slovakia have openly rejected to accept the refugees just because they do not want the Brussels to impose immigration policies on them or because they simply do not want Muslims or non-Europeans in their communities. The migrant crisis has thus become a real litmus test for the EU coherence and unity. Thus, in this paper I study the cases of Sweden and Slovakia in terms of their immigration policies since they have applied completely different responses towards the migrants. Through this comparative study I hope that it will be much clearer whether the last migrant crisis can be an end to a united Europe in a global world or is this just one of the several crises the EU has faced throughout its history. Probably the biggest problem in this sense is that only a few EU states have proved their democratic and humanistic matureness to accommodate the migrants and accept them as equal citizens.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Refugees, and Solidarity
Political Geography:
Europe, Sweden, and Slovakia

26. The Visegrad Co-operation, Poland, Slovakia and Austria in the Czech Foreign Policy: Coping with Irritants?

Author:
Vít Dostál
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Institute of International Relations Prague
Abstract:
Since the developments in Central Europe were very dynamic in 2017, the importance of the Visegrad co-operation, Poland, Austria and Slovakia in the Czech foreign policy has grown. The general elections in Austria, the judicial reform in Poland and the subsequent triggering of Article 7 of the Treaty of the EU against Poland, the Polish and Hungarian EU Presidencies and various EU dossiers, such as the dossier on the reform of the EU’s asylum system, would all suggest that the Czech Republic should have paid more attention to the region. However, the Czech Republic chose rather a free-riding and adaptational approach toward it, and in some cases, it has shown disinterest in its policy vis-à-vis the region. There were fewer political contacts with and initiatives related to the other V4 states than in the previous years, and the Czech foreign policy was not able to address major dilemmas of the Central European policy. Interestingly, at the same time, the importance of the region was reflected in a higher politicisation and polarisation of the issues related to the Visegrad Group, Poland and Hungary.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, Reform, European Union, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Poland, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Central Europe, and Slovakia

27. Yearbook of Slovakia's Foreign Policy

Author:
Peter Brazani
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis. As an old Latin adage has it, times change, and we change with them. The year 2017 was no different in that regard, and change continued to be the buzz word in the realm of international relations. Political trends became unpredictable and complex, sometimes even tectonic. It does not come easy to me to say that the world did not become a more stable and safer place last year. We saw turmoil and regional tensions, with the international community starting to lose consensus on some key issues previously understood as common interests. These changes are no longer situational. They are early warnings of new, long-term tendencies, stemming from protracted conflicts, social inequality, isolationism and lack of trust. Changing constants have placed new demands on our foreign policy, and on us as diplomats.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Slovakia

28. Migration from China to Slovakia

Author:
Peter Ondris
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
While numerous specialist studies about Chinese communities have been published in other countries in the region, this is not the case in Slovakia. Therefore there is a general lack of information about the Chinese community in Slovakia. The objective of this study is, at least partially, to fill this gap. While in many cases, i.e. in Central and Eastern Europe, businesses run by Chinese migrants have contributed to the economic stabilization of the region, including in Slovakia. It should be noted that the number of Chinese people in Slovakia has in the last ten years decreased as a percentage of the foreigners living legally in Slovakia. One could assess this as being a consequence of Slovakia’s EU membership and its adoption of European legislation. The Slovak government has adopted policies to try to change the nature of Chinese migration to Slovakia and attract more educated people and businessmen.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, European Union, and Multilateral Relations
Political Geography:
China, Eastern Europe, Hungary, Central Europe, and Slovakia

29. The V4 Countries and the Impacts of the Austerity Cuts on their Defence Spending and Armed Forces

Author:
Jakub Kufčák
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article analyses the impacts of the austerity cuts on the defence spending and armed forces of the V4 countries. This is achieved through combination of three analytical approaches - firstly by looking at defence expenditure in constant $ from SIPRI data, secondly by comparing the respective structures of these defence budgets from the NATO data, and thirdly by analysing how these developments and economic realities translated into the level of the respective national armies and if/how were the political ambitions for foreign deployments for these armies modified, if/how was the force structure reformed, if/which capabilities were slashed and if/which modernisation plans were postponed. This research design yielded several results even though the utility of the V4 analytical framework proved to be, thanks to vast discrepancies between the sample countries, limited. The conditions of small states armies did not allow the V4 countries to make significant cuts in the number of military personnel as bigger countries in Europe were able to execute in order to protect their equipment expenditures that are vital for modernisation. Consequently, the V4 countries were left with soaring personnel expenditures and gradually diminishing funds for investments. Curiously, Slovakia proved to be the only country where the decline in defence expenditure can be at least partially tied to austerity cuts and the economic crisis.
Political Geography:
Europe and Slovakia

30. Visegrad Four EU Battlegroup: Meaning and Progress

Author:
Jana Urbanovská and Michal Paulech
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In 2011, the states of the so-called Visegrad Four (V4), i.e. the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, decided to form a joint European Union battlegroup by 2016, available for rapid deployment within ten days and within a radius of six thousand kilometres from Brussels. The intention to establish this military formation had become the first initiative of its kind within the V4 ever. The present article therefore aims to examine the content of the mutual military cooperation among the CR, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia in the form of the V4 battlegroup and make readers acquainted with relevant and up-to-date information about the process of the formation of the V4 battlegroup and its importance for the military cooperation of the V4 countries. In order to achieve that, the authors introduce the previous experience of the individual V4 countries with the formation of EU battlegroups, explain the motives of the V4 countries to form a joint battlegroup, describe the path leading to the creation of the V4 BG as well as the possibilities of its deployment and the question of financing, and finally they deal with the perspectives of the V4 BG from the point of view of its importance for further development of military cooperation between the V4 countries.
Political Geography:
Poland and Slovakia