1 st Issue IN FOCUS Free of Charge 25 years of the Visegrad Cooperation

V4 – Past and Future Society Culture International Affairs Antall József Knowledge Centre

1 Cover Picture: The Signature of the Founders of the Visegrad Cooperation (From top to bottom: Lech Wałęsa, President of the Republic of ; Václav Havel, President of the Czechoslovak Republic; and József Antall, Prime Minister of the Republic of )

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2 3 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1 WELCOME

1 Welcome 5 Welcoming Words from the Publisher 6 Lectori Salutem!

2 V4 – Past and Future 7-8 József Antall, the Initiator of the Visegrad Cooperation 9-11 Room for Improvement – Visegrad 2016+ 12-18 Interviews: V4 Ambassadors

3 Society 19-26 Is there a Visegrad Identity and If Yes Where Do We Find Its Traces? WELCOMING WORDS FROM THE PUBLISHER 27-31 Visegrad as Regional Identity

4 Culture DEAR READERS 32-39 Top 5 40-45 Visegrad Cities The Antall József Knowledge Centre is starting a new chapter in its history. In the past six years, the Knowledge Centre has published several books and organised a variety of events 5 International Affairs in the feld of social sciences, with special regard to international relations. Our institutional network has also 46-47 Interview: Veronika Antall-Horváth been expanded: beside our headquarters in , we now have offces in Pécs, Győr, and Brussels. 48-51 Unity in Diversity (?) - V4 in the EU We hope that additional cities in and outside of our borders will be added to this network in the future. 52-59 V4 Perception on Reforms of the European One of the main goals of the coming years is to establish an internationally-recognised research Migration and Asylum Policy community, which will not only examine current global affairs, but will also be able to present their fndings to the wider international community. 6 Antall József Knowledge Centre The publication of our magazine In Focus, where you may read about our research results and our 60-61 Book Review activities, is an important part of this initiative. 62-65 The Antall József Knowledge Centre 66-67 The Antall József Summer School In Focus will be available in Hungarian and English, in printed and electronic versions as well. 68-71 AJKC Academic Year 2016-2017 I wish the editors and writers of the publication good luck, and you, dear readers, a good read. 72-73 The Publishing Office of the Knowledge Centre 74 Next Issues Péter Antall Responsible Publisher Director of the Antall József Knowledge Centre

4 WELCOME 5 2 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE JÓZSEF ANTALL, THE INITIATOR OF THE VISEGRAD COOPERATION

LECTORI SALUTEM! This year, we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Visegrad Cooperation; an alliance which There are considerable changes in our world in fact has a 700-year-old history. The frst issue and in our lives. of In Focus therefore provides an overview of Although we could argue about the extent the history of the cooperation and the political, and quality of these changes, it is for the most economic, and social processes of the member part accepted worldwide that the fourth industrial states, as well as underlines future challenges revolution is underway, the resources of our ahead of the four countries. planet and the icecaps are drastically diminishing, The first quarter century of the Cooperation and Europe’s population is ageing, while in Asia is analysed by Dr Géza Jeszenszky, Minister of Three historic kingdoms constitute the core of patrons and backstabbing each other, joined and Africa it is explosively increasing. The role of Foreign Affairs of the Antall government. The : the Polish, the Czech (or Bohemian), their forces to fight against threats effectively politics and economy, as well as the relationship ambassadors of the , Poland, and the Hungarian. For their existence and freedom, – were driven by their need of identifying the of their actors is changing, so is that of the individual, and , as well as the Hungarian State they had to fght many wars with the Great Powers source of and redressing common problems, family, and society. The ties between the scientific, Secretary for EU Affairs in turn discuss the current surrounding them. The congress held at the perpetual problems as it were. innovative, and profit-oriented enterprises are situation of the V4 Countries. Through the frst issue, Visegrád Palace in 1335, which was perhaps At the beginning of 1990, the democratic politi- starting to have a fresh basis. Each country readers have the opportunity to learn more about the first European summit, already revealed cians of Poland, , and Hungary, who responds to the challenges and dilemmas outlined the most prominent personalities and the cultural that these countries could promote their interests had been actively fghting against Communism, and above differently. We hope that we will be able heritage of the four countries, as well as the most better if acting together. We Hungarians also the freely-elected governments were determined to to introduce many of these solutions in this remarkable places in the region. believed in the captivating motto of the Polish preserve solidarity and advocate coordinated publication. The frst issue of In Focus was compiled by the legions shedding their blood in vain during the or joint actions. In November 1990 when the When launching a magazine, the primary goals colleagues of the Knowledge Centre and the former Napoleonic wars, “For your freedom and for ours,” Paris Charter recording the basic principles of of any editor-in-chief are to determine its main students of the Antall József Summer School, not only in 1848 but also during the revolution of a new Europe after the Cold War was signed, focus and the target audience. The main reason of whose assistance is greatly appreciated. 1956 and the peaceful regime change in 1989. Hungarian Prime Minister József Antall proposed publishing In Focus is to introduce certain countries, Politicians, writers, and authors – who in the past to his Polish and Czech partners that the leading regions, or institutions to readers interested in 200 years have supported the friendship and politicians of the three countries should meet at international relations on the occasion of significant Ádám Kégler cooperation of people living between the Baltic the beginning of the following year in Visegrád. events or anniversaries. The scientifc magazine Editor-in-Chief region and the Adria, between the Germans and In the Solemn Declaration adopted at the summit presents all aspects of the topic selected aiming Deputy Director Russians, instead of seeking world powers as on 15 February 1991, Prime Minister Antall, to spread knowledge. Antall József Knowledge Centre

6 WELCOME V4 – PAST AND FUTURE 7 Czechoslovakian President Václav Havel, and “Visegrad can serve as Polish President Lech Wałęsa stated the common ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT – VISEGRAD 2016+ political and economic ambitions of their countries, a good example for other as well as their intention of reconciling their politics The transition to democracy that reached its peak on the dissolution of the Pact, a means groups of countries that are from 1989 to 1990 has changed the whole European of Soviet power, and fully taking part in European rivals or even show hostility geopolitical setting. Although the iron curtain integration. The Declaration joyfully stated that disappeared and the division of Europe was “the historic sense of togetherness of our nations towards each other.” over, Central Europe could not help drifting into a and the need for it can from now on freely be power vacuum. Everybody agreed that this power manifested in accordance with the true interests vacuum in the region cannot be maintained in of our people on the highest level of political the long term. While the extension of the NATO will.” Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet The Visegrad Fund was established in 2000 for was a taboo at that time – actually Washington Union, afterwards accepted the termination its preservation. Its joint programmes realised was thinking about its liquidation1 – the Americans of the Warsaw Pact, an alliance having never with the help of grants are becoming more and were planning to realize a zone of neutral states been approved by the people of the member more popular; creating a sense of belonging from the Balkans to Finland.2 In the view of Hungary, states, on 1 July in . Had the four nations of together in the younger generation. this idea had its own antecedents, since the main the three countries not chosen the path of common The V4 has no separate apparatus; its policies hope of the country in 1956 was to achieve the understanding and joint actions, the three countries are coordinated through the regular meetings of the neutral status. However, this experience proved neighbouring Hungary, having a large number group’s leaders. Visegrad is not a closed group. In the impossibility of the idea to the Hungarian of Hungarians as national minorities, would have many matters including the Eastern Partnership, prime minister – József Antall. As he said: “neutrality easily been tempted to form some sort of a they act jointly with the Baltic and Western Balkan has never been a proclamation made by any coalition against Hungary’s effort to promote states or the fve northern countries. The solidarity country during history, but it was an opportunity, minority rights. The so-called Little Entente, the of the four Central European countries seems which was born by agreements of world politics unholy alliance of Czechoslovakia, Romania and 3 to be effective at the time of growing Euroscepticism and current circumstances.” troops from Hungary.4 Building a particularly Yugoslavia between the two world wars formed and with regard to the large infow of refugees. against Hungary, was not forgotten. good relationship with Helmut Kohl and improving Last but not least, Visegrad can serve as a good “A new Central European order needed to ties with Boris Yeltsin’s was Antall’s key Due to the joint efforts of the leaders of the example for other groups of countries that are be institutionalized. That was the Visegrad Visegrad Group, association agreements were to avoid the possibility of becoming a Soviet– rivals or even show hostility towards each other. Cooperation.” 5 signed with the European Communities on 16 German buffer zone. He thought that averting the The group’s name itself is of Slavic origin; it Power vacuum carries many dangers: becoming resurrection of the Little Entente spirit could be December 1991; while the Central European means a high castle, an acropolis. Let this high defenceless against a possibly resurging Soviet Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) was created ensured by supporting each other, taking joint castle be a strong castle, a lighthouse guiding Union, an eventual German-Soviet rapprochement, actions and, above all, by mutually respecting in the following year. The Visegrad Countries the V4 and other countries. a new alliance unfolding around Hungary from the worked together for their NATO membership the human rights of minority status citizens “Little Entente” states, or the expansion of the in each country.6 Nevertheless, this was not guaranteeing security. They achieved that aim Yugoslav War and the insecurity it engenders. on 12 March 1999. (Slovakia was left out, due to enough: a new Central European order needed Concerning the frst problem from the four, József to be institutionalised. the interior and Russia-sympathetic foreign policy of Antall urged the early withdrawal of the Soviet former Slovakian Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar.) The new Central European order was created Accession negotiations with the EU were initially by a Hungarian initiative and was based on the also conducted together. idea of József Antall – on the strong Visegrad 1 7 At the turn of the millennium, when the Viseg- Solomon, G. B. (1998). The NATO Enlargement De- Cooperation. The original agreement signed bate. Blessings of Liberty, 1990–1997. Centre for Stra- rad Countries were led by centre-right govern- at the Congress of Visegrad (1335) reflected tegic and International Studies, Washington D.C., pp. the power reality of medieval Europe, when the ments dedicated to the Atlantic Alliance, the 6–19. cooperation gained new momentum with the 2 Sharing the Experiences of Visegrad Cooperation in declaration concerning the coordination of poli- the Western Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood 4 “Antall József miniszterelnöknek a koalíciós tics as members of the , signed Countries, 2010. International Centre for Democratic képviselőcsoportok zártkörű ülésén elhangzott in 2004 in the Czech city of Kroměříž. Written by Transition. Available: http://www.icdt.hu/documents/ beszédéből” Available: https://www.youtube.com/ publications/GUAM-Project-Preparatory-Study.pdf. watch?v=0tR3URo9Ipl. [downloaded: 1 February 2016]. In the past, the unity of Central Europe manifested Dr Géza Jeszenszky, [downloaded: 1 February 2016]. 5 Antall, J. (2015), p. 549. itself in culture creating everlasting contributions. former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary 3 Antall, J. (2015). Modell és valóság. II. Antall József 6 Antall, J. (2015), p. 494, 706. Tudásközpont, Budapest. pp. 377. 7 Antall, J. (2015), p. 675.

8 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE V4 – PAST AND FUTURE 9 kingdoms of the region were not only independent and to the Slovak and Czech stubbornness. The V4 area being a “borderland” is not only EU’s most vital factors and it seems that it is going states, but also among the most stable ones of The V4 only regained its importance when the a geographical concept but also a political to remain so.13 the continent. The concept of Visegrad reached preliminaries to join NATO and EU reached a one, i.e. it depends on what it borders. It is One of the most important questions about the back to this ideal state, when it imagined an peak in 1998. Creating the International Visegrad hardly a premature conclusion that if Russia, future is whether the form of the V4 will stay the same alliance of independent and strong countries, Fund was a huge step in 2000 which finally the Middle East and Western Europe are coopera- or does it need to become a more regular, more whose main aim was furthering the European provided stable and systematic funding for the tive, that has an immensely positive effect on the structured cooperation. Although there would be integration and linking into the process. According objectives. The V4 reached the original goals of Visegrad Countries as well. Unfortunately, nowa- a lot of benefts, there are also some disadvantages to József Antall, the Visegrad Cooperation could Antall as throughout the 1990s, the stability of days the cooperation is not fawless among these in this regard. It would be pointless to deny that not become the alternative of the NATO or the the region was admired and the countries have partners. Moreover, the future of the European there are many disagreements between the accession to the European Union, moreover neither managed to avoid being part of malicious power Union, which creates a framework for the V4 Coop- V4 countries which are not likely to disappear. it could become their long-lasting anteroom, nor plays or ethnic commotions. The foresight of eration, has become unclear. How the EU will The current structure of the V4 is flexible and their “dental waiting room.” The Central European Antall was proven true in reaching the main aim: react to the Brexit and to the long-lasting ef- “soft” enough to absorb the “vibrations.”14 At countries made it clear that their integration should the V4 cooperation became a stepping stone for fects of the financial crisis that begun in 2008 the same time, a tougher appearance which be interpreted as a component of a stepping stone the NATO and EU integration, it did not became are still questions that loom large. If the “two- would no longer be considered ad hoc in the to the broader European integration.8 an obstacle or worse, an alternative to them. speed” Europe will become a reality then the eyes of the stronger actors (– At frst, Antall’s concept proved to be fexible When measuring the future of the V4 it must V4 could find itself in the “borderland” again. tandem, Russia etc.) could potentially trigger enough to solve problems, and this made the be stressed that the cooperation has fulfilled But a more continental and homogeneous Eu- resistance.15 cooperation strong against the problems. There its original purpose as being the common forum rope would be advantageous for the V4 as well. In conclusion, the V4 will be useful for the na- were numerous difficulties: the dissolution of of accession to the NATO and EU. Since 2000, Our interest is a strong Europe. However, the in- tion-states of the region in the years to come, Czechoslovakia, the ethnic tensions, the economic the International Visegrad Fund offers fund- terests of the Western and Eastern member states but moot points among its members will still problems, or just the fact that more countries would ing to a variety of common projects. After the can be radically different (as the interest of the recur. The prosperity of the region do not only have joined to the cooperation. The V4 lasted success of the 1990s, the concept of the V4 Northern and Southern member states as well) depend on cooperation but also on how our because it did not become overcentralized, did weakened and it was only in the second part and a stronger Union would tip the balance to- geopolitical context would change. The most not create a huge bureaucracy and the politicians of the 2010s that it regained its central role. wards the stronger Western countries. So the competitive structure that could manage future of the early times handled the occurring problems Nowadays the Visegrad Cooperation became interest of the V4 would not be a federalist Eu- problems and explore opportunities is most well. The Central European Basic Treaties and a popular phrase in policy papers, studies, and rope but a strong, multifaceted integration that likely one that is more integrative on a sectoral the inclusive regional networks like the Central university courses – today, there is no Eastern is based on the sovereignty of the nation-states. level, but largely unchanged and retains its European Initiative (earlier: Pentagonale, then European Studies without the V4. Compromises with and Russia are also flexible, “Visegradian” character. Hexagonale) took away the narrow exclusivity In 1999 (and, for that matter, also in 1335) it necessary so that we do not find ourselves in of the Visegrad Cooperation.9 Also, the basic was the political reality that made the creation the middle of a buffer zone of conflicting inter- treaties, the accommodation to the Helsinki of the Visegrad Cooperation possible, and today ests but in the middle of a prospering union.12 framework, and the calm and stable policy of is also a point when we must be able to measure It seems that the Visegrad Cooperation is substantial minority protection helped signifcantly to manage the reality well. There is largely a consensus (if selective) and resilient against such external chal- the growing ethnic nationalism. The cooperation had among geopolitical authors about the idea that lenges. We can expect that this union will be able not been shaken either by the “Velvet Divorce” of Central Europe is a geographically vulnerable to participate in EU politics as an independent Slovakia and the Czech Republic. place, laying at the crossroads of big powers actor, but we can also expect disagreements (Russia, Germany, and potentially Turkey) – all of between the members in cases of conflicting “The V4 has stood the test of time because which could be a challenge in the future. Another interests. It is undeniable that the V4 Countries it remained flexible.” challenge could be the instability in the neighbour- have strong, stable governments and they are József Antall was not only the one who had hood: although the weapons have fallen silent in the reliable business partners which is an important 13 McDonagh, K. (2014). A View on Central Europe III: came up with the idea of the Visegrad Cooperation Balkans, the Middle East and Turkey is hardly stable, trait for the primus inter pares Germany. However Does the V4 Have a Future? Globsec Policy Institute. and the migration fow which started in 2015 creates Availabe: http://www.cepolicy.org/publications/view- but he was its most consistent advocate and underpublicized it is, the economic cooperation central-europe-iii-does-v4-have-future-0. [Downloaded: protector as well. After he died, the Cooperation lost further tension. George Friedman described this between Germany and the V4 is still one of the 24 July 2016]. from its relevance due to the changing foreign delicate geographical-political situation with the 14 Strážay, T. (2015). Exploring Possibilities of Deepen- policy priorities of the Gyula Horn government10 concept of “borderlands.”11 ing the Internal Cohesion of the V4: Polish and Slovak 12 Csepregi, Zs. (2016) “Nem lehetünk többé határ- Perspectives. Slovak Foreign Policy Association. Avail- vidék” – Magyarország geopolitikai érdekei. DiploMaci able: http://www.sfpa.sk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ 8 Antall, J. (2015), p. 505, 616–17. Mozgó világ, Vol. 30, No. 2. Blog. Available: http://diplomaci.blog.hu/2015/09/23/_ Internal-Cohesion-of-the-V4_SK-and-PL-perspectives. 9 Antall, J. (2015), pp. 736–37. 11 Friedman, G. (2015). Gyulladáspontok, New Wave nem_lehetunk_tobbe_hatarvidek_magyarorszag_geo- pdf. [Downloded: 24 August 2016]. 10 Dunay, P. (2004). Az átmenet magyar külpolitikája. Media, Budapest. politikai_erdekei. [Available: 23. August 2016]. 15 McDonagh, 2014.

10 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE V4 – PAST AND FUTURE 11 GLOBAL ISSUES J. Chmiel

May I ask you to name those global processes The Visegrad Cooperation is gradually becoming INTERVIEWS which you think profoundly affect the V4 coun- stronger and more attractive to other EU countries. tries? The V4 as a whole is able to promote its interests The interviews were conducted with HE Juraj Chmiel, Czech Ambassador to Hungary; HE Roman better than its member states individually. I think Kowalski, Polish Ambassador to Hungary; HE Rastislav Káčer, Slovak Ambassador to Hungary; R. Kowalski the V4 is stronger, which is manifested through their and Szabolcs Takács, State Secretary for European Union Affairs, Hungary in August-September 2016. unanimous answer to the migration crisis. As a Naturally, I regard the continuously intensifying result, we have been in the focus of sometimes migration wave – which is caused by a variety unreasonable criticism. We formulated an idea of reasons: wars and conflicts, the devastating which was entirely different from the one pushed effect of climate change, the destruction of the by other countries. Therefore, I believe the reason environment, or just the search for a better life – we are stronger is that we are able to articulate as the global process that affects the V4 Group our disagreement with an EU stance or decision, and Europe the most. The handling of this problem as well as express criticism and come forward currently poses an enormous challenge to the with a unique proposal when the ideas presented Visegrad Countries. The new economic crises do not match our visions. can also have a global effect, potentially causing sensitive damage to our economies that are still on the level of rebuilding and strengthening. The decrease of global security, the outbreak of more frequent and geographically closer “We undeniably have to armed conflicts and the spread of terrorism are also of great importance. We undeniably have face too many challenges” to face too many challenges. R. Kowalski Sz. Takács

The flow of migrants fleeing war zones caused R. Káčer problems in the European continent, Australia, as well as the countries of Asia and Africa. By now, Visegrad is a good story. No single country illegal migration has become a global challenge or region has the same interests. However, the which affects the Visegrad Region too. It is, there- strength of a cooperation lies in its ability to fnd fore easy to understand that, among all the compromises. I think that the Visegrad Region global processes, it is the migration crisis that should be driven by the intension of making Europe our countries have focused on. better and stronger and this is the message we should deliver to our citizens and partners. In the V4 AND EU Visegrad Region, we speak of Visegrad unity. Where are the Visegrad Countries making I have been at many Visegrad meetings since its progress with special regard to their position inception, therefore, I know that member states in the EU and EU institutions? do not have a common standpoint in certain questions. However, this is absolutely normal, we Sz. Takács should not be preoccupied with our differences. We should concentrate on common interests and In my opinion, we as a group are determined, strong, values and build our cooperation around that. So we and dedicated enough to make commitments to are not unanimous, but we are unique. Introducing reinforce the European idea, similarly to those any kind of “them (EU) and us (Central Europe)” as the French and German cooperation made after something too unique would be deadly for us, as 1. HE Juraj Chmiel, Czech Ambassador to Hungary 2. HE Roman Kowalski, Polish Ambassador to Hungary World War II. we are all part of the EU. 3. HE Rastislav Káčer, Slovak Ambassador to Hungary 4. Szabolcs Takács, State Secretary for European Union Affairs

12 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE V4 – PAST AND FUTURE 13 R. Kowalski where a large number of young people have PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT THE V4 Sz. Takács emigrated to from our states, while it is also an We are an integral part of the European Union. immensely important security policy partner that in When compiling the frst issue of In Focus, However, the migration of youth in pursuit of job We promised to fulfil certain obligations, our many cases shares our point of view regarding we asked the Czech, Slovak, Polish and opportunities is an important question that is yet infuence on processes within the EU is growing the future of the EU. In my opinion, the weakening Hungarian participants of the Antall József to be solved. and at the same time we are also responsible of the ties with London is an unfavourable scenario Summer School whether or not a Visegrad for the future of the whole of Europe. I hope that for our countries. identity exists. Their reply was that there R. Kowalski our voice will become even more audible and that was no Visegrad identity as such, but they When it comes to young people – if we take into we can have a large and positive impact on the had precious memories of cities such as Sz. Takács: account the whole Visegrad Group – the number creation of a strong and successful Europe, as – Prague, Banská Bystrica, Cracow or Szeged. of those leaving behind our countries in search in the end – our future also depends on this. Many of our citizens work in the Despite the fact that it is very successful on for a better life has already by far exceeded two and there are several British companies present the political level, the Visegrad Cooperation million people. This is a serious problem that in Hungary, which also demonstrates that, with has no relevance in the everyday life of people. gives us already many reasons to think and a “The Visegrad Cooperation is the decision of the UK, the Union is losing one How do you see the public opinion on the V4, problem that can lead to very signifcant diffculties gradually becoming strong- of its pillars. We hope to fnd the best solution for especially among young people? the new relationship between the UK and the EU in the future. First of all, this shows the mobility and er and more attractive to without affecting the markets. If we dare ask the the braveness of our youth, the fact that they are questions that led to this decision by the UK, we well prepared for such a challenge and that they other EU countries” will be able to guide the EU in a better direction. “We just have to follow are able to make use of the possibilities that the We think it is important for the citizens to identify accession of our countries into the EU presented to J. Chmiel themselves with the EU institutions and their a path that is constructive” them. On the other hand, it indicates that, despite the Sz. Takács decisions, as they are working for the citizens extraordinary achievements of the last 25 years R. Káčer and not vice versa. regarding life standards and the fulfilment of I consider myself lucky as I have a very good personal goals, there are still far too big differences R. Káčer relationship with my Visegrad colleagues thanks J. Chmiel between our countries and the so-called old to the high-level meetings we hold to reconcile We should be patient, as forming a common EU member states. We have to believe that the our interests and ensure the well-being of our The Czech Republic will be affected by Brexit as identity does not happen overnight. That is the equalisation of these differences will be realised citizens. The common standpoints we negotiate well, as we also have numerous people working result of long years of daily investment, which more rapidly in the future. make our cooperation stronger which is of crucial in the UK. There arises also the question of how should start with politics. Good politics infuence importance, even for the next generations. Scotland and Northern Ireland will react to not community building positively, so we need being part of the European Union. Perhaps we SECURITY POLICY BREXIT to encourage our political leaders to do that. will witness more turbulent developments. When Common practical projects including cancellation Do you think that current security challenges it comes to that, politicians and the markets of roaming fees, as well as the recognition of In your opinion, what impact does Brexit have could have such effects that would improve should react appropriately and avoid hysteria. university degrees in all the member states on the Visegrad Region? the position of our region internationally? supporting the movement of labour can also have a positive effect. Accordingly, political communication R. Kowalski Sz. Takács “The Union is losing needs to convey positive instead of deconstructive It is difficult to give a straight answer to this messages. Through business culture and educa- Right now, we can clearly see that only the question today, since currently we only have a one of its pillars” tion, a strong unity can be formed which occurs enhanced cooperation of the law enforcement decision to deal with. We still speak about a spontaneously, step by step. We do not have to force and security services of the member states and Sz. Takács possible scenario which in the case of its eventual such a cooperation, we just have to follow a path international authorities can successfully prevent realisation – I personally still hope that this will R. Káčer that is constructive. Today, we live in a world that terror attacks. In order to tackle this problem, the not happen – will have a very serious effect on is burdened by a horribly negative agenda. We see long-term imperfections of EU databases need to not only Poland, but on all of our countries. Let As for the priorities, a lot of internal debate is that this view, and the frustration accompanying it, be rectifed and a complete EU-wide exchange of me just mention the most important problems: going on about Brexit, which was a vis major, is sometimes reinforced in the attitude of politicians. information should be realised as soon as possible. Great Britain is currently the second largest having occurred at the beginning of our presidency. It needs to be changed, particularly in the Visegrad We attach great importance to the development economy within the EU that contributes a serious We stress the importance of economy, with special Region, by the means of introducing pro-cooper- of the Passenger Name Record (PNR) system sum to the EU’s joint budget – from which we are regard to the ways in which the single market ation, pro-openness, and a positive outlook. units. To this end, Hungary established its national net benefciaries. At the same time, it is a country can be enhanced. PNR unit long before other member states.

14 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE V4 – PAST AND FUTURE 15 R. Káčer result than this. All this is the result of the joint effort PAST 25 R. Kowalski of the Polish people. It constitutes a stable plat- For me, the growth of political extremism is more form for the future which – hopefully – will enable Regarding achievements of the Visegrad We created and strengthened a true brand – dangerous because of the false perception of us to maintain this economic growth in the sub- Countries as a whole, what do you think the Visegrad Four – which is by now globally threats. Naturally, I do not want to imply that all sequent period. From the economic perspec- is the biggest result of the past 25 years recognised and a source of inspiration to many problems with terrorism or the threat of uncontrolled tive, future investments are of key importance. of the cooperation? of our partners. I think that the establishment of the migration to Europe are neglectable but I do Therefore, we would like to maintain their level as V4 Group made it possible for us to jointly avoid want to put it on the right scale of threats and high as possible. some mistakes in the past. I also hope that our perception. We should make sure that, by hysteria, cooperation will continuously contribute in the future we do not create more home-grown problems, we Sz. Takács “We created and to the strengthening of our region’s position. do not contribute to the radicalisation of non-radical populations, and we do not help to create another In recent years, the most signifcant investments strengthened a true NEXT 25 type of extremism. Therefore, we should truly be occurred in the field of car and machinery cautious about how we run politics. manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, as well as the brand – the Visegrad Four” What priorities or goals do you think the processing industry. However, we are making Visegrad Cooperation shall set for the next a constant effort to revive other sectors such R. Kowalski 25 years to come? as digitalisation. Hungary aims to encourage ECONOMICS the development of a national, regional, and R. Káčer European digital agenda. In this spirit, Budapest J. Chmiel What are the economic perspectives of is home to the European Institute of Innovation I am of the opinion that we need more Europe, your country? What is the volume of and Technology (EIT) and aims to attract the Many achievements have been made during which is smart and good, not the other way around. foreign investments? European Medicines Agency (EMA), with a total the past 25 years, with the most notable ones We need a Europe citizens can associate with, of 900 employees, to relocate its seat from London being accession to NATO, the European Union, where market is even more open and competitive. J. Chmiel to the Hungarian capital. and the Schengen zone. The creation of the I do not think that, by promoting pro-European I would say that the shape of the Czech economy International Visegrad Fund is without a doubt solutions, we would lose our freedom and national is good. The Czech Republic had a great ad- a great achievement of the Visegrad Cooperation. heritage. On the contrary, Visegrad member states vantage for quite a long time. When a few years When it held the rotating presidency of the should become creators of ideas, thereby construc- ago, the world experienced a turbulence caused Visegrad Group in 2011-2012, the Czech Republic tively inspiring the rest of Europe. by the economic recession of 2008, we had proposed that a similar fund aiding the Western the healthiest banks in the world, because we “From the economic perspec- Balkans should be established, and I am very had undergone all these crises in the 90s and tive, future investments are proud to say that this idea has now become drawn appropriate conclusions. At that time, our reality. Yet another area we should mention “The cooperation central bank developed very serious protective and of key importance” is defence cooperation. The four countries have shall cover all possible guiding measures. Therefore, I think our economy is recently had many accomplishments in the area doing very well, we have a very strong automotive R. Kowalski of cyber security. Furthermore, it was during segments in the future” industry, which is still blooming despite the crises. the Czech presidency that the Visegrad Battlegroup However, our aim is to expand and diversify the R. Káčer was fnally put into operation. Scientifc cooperation Sz. Takács portfolio of Czech products exported. in fields such as research and development, For Slovakia, accession to the EU was an economic innovation, and applied research bears us fruit Sz. Takács R. Kowalski improvement, so was joining the Eurozone. This as our startups are represented in Silicon Valley. helped us to survive during the crisis. However, Seven years in the making, the Visegrad Patent The cooperation shall cover all possible segments Poland fnds itself on an uninterrupted path of we should not forget that our growth potential, to Institute has just become operational, which I think in the future, like the one between France and economic growth since 21 years – that is, since a large degree, is linked to our EU membership. is a remarkable success. It is not a frequently-men- Germany does. I also fnd it important to deepen 84 consecutive fnancial quarters. As the surveys Increasing isolation, leaving the EU or the single tioned issue but it was the initiative of the Czech our cooperation in the feld of education. We should of the OECD (See table ‘Quarterly National market, as well as abolishing Schengen would Republic that a closer cooperation should be also focus on better mobility between Visegrad Accounts: Quarterly Growth Rates of real GDP, have a negative economic impact. Therefore, established in the feld of tax fraud evasion. Upon universities in order to make , Prague, change over previous quarter’ on the following link: our region is a good story because of our success the persuasion of the V4, the EU started to consider Warsaw, and Budapest as attractive for students https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350#.) in cooperation. the issue more seriously. as or Munich. show only Australia has achieved a slightly better

16 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE V4 – PAST AND FUTURE 17 BILATERAL RELATIONS AND “For the first time in my 3 SOCIETY THEIR EVALUATION diplomatic career of 25 Which typical product of your home country IS THERE A VISEGRAD IDENTITY? do you miss in Hungary? years, I do not feel like living abroad, I feel R. Kowalski IF YES WHERE DO WE like at home” It is hard to tell. Maybe the herring. Although my Hungarian friends are not impressed with R. Káčer FIND ITS TRACES? its taste and the most delicious versions of it *** cannot be easily bought in Hungary. On a more As outgoing ambassador, how do you evaluate Identity means self-consciousness or self-deter- The concept of “being Visegradian” is used by serious note, I have to admit that Polish products your diplomatic career in Hungary? mination, of which we speak when we completely the political and academic world alike. Although are doing really well on the Hungarian market. identify ourselves with a set of values or a role. Visegrad citizens legitimise the use of this notion, R. Kowalski This consciousness develops through human 17-54% of the Visegrad Countries’ population J. Chmiel interactions. Its formation is a life-long process have not heard about this cooperation nor they Briefly, in just a few words I can say that both or, in the case of community identity, a process have such an identity. At most they have had some Although I miss many Czech products, naming professionally and privately this period was a that lasts through generations. It is the result of our personal experiences in connection with the other the one most undervalued is a difficult task. particularly rich one in my life. In my preliminary personal character development and socialisation.1 three Visegrad Countries or with a product orig- However, I am very happy to see that there are plans – that each candidate ambassador has to If we look at the “Visegradness” of the citizens inating from there.3 more and more Škoda cars on the Hungarian submit before taking their post – I set out two of the Visegrad Countries we can name a large The common of the Visegrad citizens streets. There are lot of food products I miss but main goals: the activation of youth contacts and the number of jointly experienced and decisive historical is that, although the political framework of the if I were to list just a few, I would say the typical improvement of economic ties. We managed to situations as well as life events. Such identity forming states they lived in often changed, the population zabíjačka (home-made from fresh pork), and realise the Memorandum project supporting youth situations also exist, if in the given region there remained the same. some special dairy products, or cakes. initiatives which had already achieved amazing were only occasional and partial strives to achieve The lack of cultural coherence and communal results. Our cooperation also flourishes with cultural cohesion, and the important cultural inter- awareness of the Visegrad citizens might be surpris- R. Káčer universities, schools and such excellent institutions ferences were rather incidental and personal than ing when we think about the dynastical relations that as the Antall József Knowledge Centre. To our great state supported. It can be said that the majority of existed since the Árpád era. Hungary and Poland For the frst time in my diplomatic career of 25 satisfaction, the vividness of contacts between the Czech, Polish, Slovak and Hungarian citizens had three, the Czech state and Hungary had 23 years, I do not feel like living abroad, I feel like youths from different countries can be easily cannot identify themselves as “Visegradian” since common monarchs, while the lists of the Hungarian at home. Essentially, I can get any Slovak product observed now. As far as the strengthening of the they do not have a personal experience that could and Slovak kings mutually overlap each other. I am used to here in Hungary. Taking into account economic ties are concerned, the numbers speak help the formation of a common self-image.2 Although after the dissolution of the Austrian-Hun- that Hungary in Latin means old kingdom [Regnum for themselves – during the last few years we garian Monarchy the interests of the newly created Hungariae – ed.] where and Hungarians managed to double the level of economic turn- states in the region diverged from each other, after lived together, it is no coincidence that there are over between our countries which by now sur- 1 Manuel Castells created three categories for the de- 1948 all of them found themselves under Soviet so many similarities. Yet, there are some differences. passed the record amount of 8 billion euros. All scription of this notion i) people organise themselves and communist rule. Therefore, the citizens of the So far I have only discovered one, as we are part this gives us ample reason to be satisfed. Howev- around primary identity(s), such as religious, ethnical, territorial and national determination. According to Cas- Visegrad Countries could gain similar experiences of a geese and duck culture. However, in Slovakia, er, this does not mean that we have nothing to do tells primary identity is the most beautiful force through – for example about the rule of the proletarian dic- we eat duck with lokša, which is a thin pancake-like in the future. There is still a lot to be done, as the which we can achieve personal security and communal tatorship. Isolation was also a common experience, dish made out of potato, four and egg without relations between our countries offer many oppor- mobility. ii) Secondly identity forms against something. as was the desire for Western integration and the using any yeast. It is like Italian fatbread. I do not tunities for further cooperation. This is the identity of opposition. It often happens that instead of a positive self-identifcation we are more cer- need for the products of consumer society; togeth- fnd it in Hungary. tain about who oppresses us, who we are not, what we er, at the same time they managed to transform to do not agree with, or what we do not accept. iii) Finally a free market economy and multiparty political Castells describes the notion of project identity which he uses when he wants to describe a group of people who want to change existing structures and defne them- selves according to these planned changes (e.g. „I am József Knowledge Centre. green” – environmental organisations, „I am a woman” 3 54% of Slovaks, 37% of , 26% of Hungarians, – feminists). 17% of Poles, Source: International Visegrad Fund 2 According to the interviews recorded by the Antall 2001, 2015

18 V4 – PAST AND FUTURE SOCIETY 19 system, while later on they also succeeded to Public Opinion on V4 Identity jointly gain access into the Western military and political alliances.4 The concept of European identity and the value system on which it is based has already been examined in many surveys. According to the findings, the most important values for those who consider themselves European are in descending order the following: peace, human rights and the respect for human life. According to the statistics of the Eurobarometer5, peace and the respect for Štefan (Czech, 50, pilot) human rights are the most important values for These four nations were always relatives not only those living in the countries of the Visegrad Region. due to their being neighbours, but also because Karin (Slovak, 30, lawyer) When asked, 51% of Hungarians and 53% of of their similar histories. We had common kings I see myself more like a citizen of the European Slovaks found peace to be the most important and later a common emperor. Our cultures are Union, rather than that of the Visegrad Region. value, while Czechs consider peace and human similar, as are our national mentalities. Naturally, rights equally important values (both stand at due to the changes in the political systems, our 40%). According to Poles the respect of human relaations were turbulent from time to time. rights (50%) is the most important European value. This shows that the Visegrad states perfectly ft into the value system “of being European”. But are there any character traits of being “Visegradian” that could distinguish us from the other Europeans? Saint Hedwig of Silesia Which are those common components that bind together this linguistically divided region? Why do we alliance between the Hungarian, Bohemian and feel similar to each other when we fnd ourselves in Polish kingdoms, which was enforced by the the company of people from other Visegrad Coun- ensuing economic cooperation. The alliance was tries? directed against external threats, primarily against I. If we look for the Visegrad identity it is worth the Habsburgs. The aligning kingdoms agreed Stanislav (27, Polish, lawyer) recalling the common historical nodes of the to provide mutual military alliance to each other To be honest, I do not feel that I have a strong Visegrad states that shaped our system of values, against the Habsburgs, settled their territorial Anna (Hungarian, 26, international relations Visegrad identity. I think it could play a much our emotional stance and interests. Although this disputes and designed new trade routes in order to manager) more important role than it does now but there just year we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the avoid Vienna and the staple right imposed there Although I don’t have a Visegrad identity, whenever seems to be too many conficting interests in the Visegrad cooperation, the history of our relations by the Habsburgs. I’m in an international group, I do feel that I am four states. In my view, many people do not have is at least 700 years long. The recallable events, With the evaluation of the historical situation closer to Visegrad people and am more open a strong V4 identity and they do not feel that the that happened when the threads of our history that led to the start of the cooperation we can fnd towards them. group has had an impact. intertwined, were primary incidental: circumstances that are relevant even today, the - The frst milestone of the Visegrad Coopera- most important ones being our countries were Marek (Polish, 31, political scientist, journalist) tion was the Congress of Visegrad in 1335 that wedged in between the foreign political territorial What exist are a common history and similar perception of real- was organised on the highest diplomatic lev- aspirations of the Habsburg and Russian empires, ity on many levels. A community with similar experience, mostly el.6 The meeting resulted in the formation of an while also constituting the outmost border of the historical and political experience. There are nations which are western world. more connected than others—Poles and Hungarians, for exam- 4 ple. Polish people really love Hungarians, and Hungarians prob- Bottoni, S. (2014). A várva várt Nyugat. Kelet-Euró- pa története 1944-től napjainkig. MTA Bölcsészettu- there are more cities with the same name in the region ably love Poles as well. Also with Slovaks and Czechs, Poles dományi Kutatóközpont, Budapest. e.g. Vyšehrad or Višegrad, but for example one of the feel a cultural closeness. If there is a V4 identity, it is based on 5 Values of Europeans (2008). Eurobarometers 69 [on- historical districts of Prague, where among others the common political, historical, and perhaps cultural experiences. line]. Available: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/ar- cementary of the Czech heroes can also be found, also V4 citizens certainly feel more familiar with each other than with chives/eb/eb69/eb69_values_en.pdf [downloaded: 28 bears this name. In slavic languages the word casttle August 2016.], p. 16. (hrad, grad) can be found in the name of several cities other Western European or Eastern European nations. 6 Visegrad means a castle (hrad) upon a hill (výše), (e.g. Beograd, Novy Hrad etc.)

20 SOCIETY SOCIETY 21 th - We can look back at the coronation of Louis I of -From the second half of the 14 century, the ing the Habsburgs out the window, along with the to reclaim their country’s independence. The Hungary as one of the most important nodes states of the Visegrad Region were bound togeth- grand prior and their secretary, Fabricius. The de- uprisings were suppressed, and the Kingdom of determining our common identity. After the er by the Jagiełłonian Empire, established with the fenestration marked the beginning of the Thirty Poland was degraded to a Russian province as discontinuation of the Polish royal (Piast) dynasty marriage of Vladislaus and Jadwiga: The Jagiełłos Years’ War. In the Battle of White Mountain, the retribution. A large number of Poles fed in the Louis I of Hungary was invited to the Polish throne were also the kings of the Bohemians, Hungarians, army Protestant Bohemian Estates was de- aftermath of the failed freedom fghts, thereby (1370). After his death the throne passed to his and Poles until 1526, when Louis II, the 20-year- feated by Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II and giving birth to the culturally thriving and politically daughter Hedwig. As the Polish people were old Jagiełłonian king of and Hungary, his supporters, the . With this, infuential global Polish diaspora. afraid of the spread of the German infuence they drowned in the Csele river when feeing from the the became a permanent Thus, Czechs, Poles, and Hungarians have all did not support Hedwig’s marriage to William of Battle of Mohács, and the Bohemian orders elect- Habsburg province. After the battle, Ferdinand experienced oppression, disenfranchisement, Austria. Therefore, Hedwig broke off her engage- ed Ferdinand Habsburg as king. Ferdinand later had the Bohemian leaders executed, and replaced and statelessness, which represent a common ment and married the son of the Grand Duke of came to rule both the Western and Eastern parts Czech with German as the offcial language. On identity-shaping experience.14 Lithuania, who was much older than she and of Hungary after the country was torn apart under a Hungarian territory, such centralising efforts During the Spring of Nations, in March 1848, pagan. Subsequently he was crowned the king of Turkish occupation. took place only in the wake of the 1849 Surren- Lajos Kossuth demanded a modern constitution Poland under the name of Władysław II Jagiełło. The collapse of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1526 der at Világos, and only for a short time. Czech for Hungary and the Hereditary Provinces. The Fulflling the conditions of his enthronement at Mohács also buried the Bohemian-Hungarian statehood, however, was temporarily abolished, Hungarian Revolution of 1848, which made the Jagiełło converted to the Christian faith together branch of the House of Jagiełło, while under which also resulted in the suppression of Czech eventual social transition possible, is one of the with his people. The conversion of the Lithuanians Sigismund I the Old (reign: 1506-1548), Poland culture—still a major trauma in Czech national most notable and brightest chapters in the history is thus in some form our joint historical achievement. entered a new age of prosperity. Although the fate consciousness.12 of Poland and Hungary: under the leadership of Our Christian conviction is still basic Visegradian of Poland took a more favorable turn than Hungary’s, - By the late 1600s, the forces of the Holy League generals Józef Bem and Henryk Dembiński, thou- value today, although it is still arguable whether the lively Hungarian-Bohemian and Polish diplomat- reclaimed the territories of the medieval Kingdom sands of Polish offcers and linemen participated 7 we consider it a primary or secondary identity. ic ties remained intact: Sigismund I of Poland of Hungary under Turkish occupation. Transylvania in the Hungarian freedom fight. Poles living in The creation of the so-called “frontier identity” not only gave up his claim to the throne in favour also came under Habsburg control, but remained Hungary welcomed the revolution with great dates back to the times of the Ottoman wars. of John Szapolyai, but also became one of his big- administratively separate from other Hungarian enthusiasm, and the representatives of the Galician Almost all of us share the idea that we were the gest supporters. When, with the death of his son, areas. From that point on, the entire Kingdom Poles arriving in Pest to establish contact with ones who had to defend Europe, therefore the the Polish branch of the Jagiełłonian dynasty also of Hungary was a part of the Habsburg Empire. the Hungarian government were greeted with a 8 bell tolls at midday for our martyrs. In the case died out, Poland elected a Transylvanian prince Against the Austrian Catholic infuence, Protestant- torchlight procession. The freedom fghters only laid 11 of the Polish romantics the “frontier identity” even as king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ism—protecting the Hungarian identity—became down their arms in front of the Russian Tsar’s 9 evolved into the idea of sacrifcial messianism. The lesser nobility’s support for Báthory and prevalent especially in the Eastern part of the invasion army. The Hungarians’ request to reinforce Experiencing identity through such a role the cross-regional cooperation between the Poles country. Some of the most genuine artifacts of this the constitutional rights of the Hereditary Provinces makes us all proud. However, the modifcation of and Hungarians regarding the succession to the process are the folk tales and songs belonging to is an example of a spontaneous effort against the the Visegrad states’ “frontier status” is naturally the throne is another example of an ad hoc political the Kuruc culture. The rebels and freedom fghters Habsburgs to promote our common interests. 10 general goal and interest of all of the four countries. action, which was once again motivated by the of the age—similarly to the political refugees of ages II. 18 years after the revolution was put down, fear of German and Russian infuence. past—once again found refuge in Poland.13 the Austro-Hungarian Compromise established a 7 In the case of the Czech Republic it has to be men- - In Bohemia, the time was marked by the spread - The 18th century saw Poland decline, come dual monarchy that was nonetheless multinational, tioned that it showed a specifc form of historical devel- of Hussitism: 1618 was the year of the Defenestra- under foreign occupation, and get partitioned three and which represented the frst institutional effort at opment within the world of Christian culture: the destiny tion of Prague, where the leaders of the Bohemian times. Polish statehood was restored during the creating an identity within a common framework. of the country and the development of national identity estates threw the supreme burgrave represent- was mostly infuenced by Hussism, which can be seen Napoleonic Wars, with the establishment of the It is to the credit of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy as a prelude to . Duchy of Warsaw. During the uprisings of 1830- that the general atmosphere in the region did not 8 The midday chime is a bell call that can be heard ev- Maci blog [on-line]. Available: http://diplomaci.blog. 31 and 1863-64, the Poles tried unsuccessfully culminate in confict—the territory’s different people ery day at 12 p.m. and summons Christians for the An- hu/2015/09/23/_nem_lehetunk_tobbe_hatarvidek_mag- and their different languages, ethnicities, and gelus prayer. This custom can be observed worldwide yarorszag_geopolitikai_erdekei [downloaded: 20 Sep- and commemorates the victory at Nándorfehérvár (Bel- tember 2016]. 12 This disharmony was best illustrated by Jaroslav religions were held together by Austro-Hungary. grade) against the invading Turkish forces on 22 July 11 At the time, the most likely heir was Emperor and King Hašek three centuries later via the character and humor Hungarians, Czechs, Slovakians, and Silesian 1456. The Pope declared the day the news of the victory Maximilian from the House of Habsburg, but then Ivan of Švejk. Poles all considered themselves citizens of the 13 reached the Vatican, 6 August, a major holiday and in the Terrible also announced his claim. Meanwhile, the Thanks to the relationship of John Sobieski and Imre Monarchy. However, by the turn of the century, a papal decree ordered a celebratory mess to be held Poles not only had a potential Turkish invasion to fear, Thököly, Poland represented a safe haven. In November at 12 p.m., which was to be accompanied by bell rings. but also had reason to be wary of German and Russian 1701, when Francis II Rákóczi escaped from his prison 9 Mickiewicz’s famous poem “To a Polish Mother” is a attempts to partition their country among them. Although in Wiener Neustadt, he fed to Poland. He lived in Kra- perfect example for this. the lords in the Senate reacted to this situation by elect- kow and Warsaw, and his years in hiding were spent 14 Mihály Munkácsy’s Death Row debuted at the Salon 10 Csepregi, Zs. (2015). „Nem lehetünk többé határ- ing Maximilian, the more powerful lesser nobility ended in the company of Miklós Bercsényi. When he returned in Paris in 1870, where it won the grand gold medal, as vidék” – Magyarország geopolitikai érdekei, Diplo- up supporting Stephen Báthory on 12 December 1575. home in 1703, he was aided by Poles. well as the admiration of the Courbet Group.

22 SOCIETY SOCIETY 23 Czesław Miłosz receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980

ent Polish state. The tiny new state, formed from tion that they felt they have something to demand Sándor Wágner: The Self- Sacrifce of Titusz Dugovics territories of those on the losing side, have later from the world. these people, as well as the Italians, Austrians, and freedom failed to become reality, and the result gained real, legitimate statehood after they defeated - World War II brought about terrible suffering to Slovenians, Romans, and so on, had come to was the complete partition of Poland, the failure of the Bolshevik Soviet-Russia. In the interwar years, Poland. During the Nazi and Soviet occupations, identify with separate national aims, which they later the Hungarian Revolution, the Trianon Treaty, as however, it became clear that independence is not the Poles created a parallel administration, an pursued in World War I. With the dissolution of the well as the 1938-39 partition of Czechoslovakia. an antidote for everything: economic hardships underground state. The Polish Home Army sparked Monarchy in 1918, the Czechoslovak Republic - In all these instances, all three countries (who and a growing mistrust in democracy was widely off the Warsaw Rising to liberate their capital came into being, while Hungary and Poland were fghting the European status quo powers) felt in this region. It became common sense that alone, prior to the interference of the Soviet, so regained their independence. came in confict with their disaffected minorities. no one can rely on the West to solve their own as to put their underground government in power. III. The witty and self-critical description of They also had good reason to feel abandoned by problems. The Visegradians experienced a sense According to the calculations of the insurgents, István Bibó15 offers a good introduction to the Europe: the Poles with regard to the creation of an of betrayal again and again, they grew disillusioned liberation should have last for a couple of days, since period leading up to the end of World War I. Bibó’s independent Poland, the Czechs because of the with Western Europe and Western democracy – the Soviet Army already reached the bank of the reading of our shared history—which he calls annexation of the , and the Hungarians which they otherwise respect as an ideal. Vistula. The Soviets, however, did not intervene in “the lesson of becoming a nation” but essentially due to the failures of their freedom fghts and the - Although Poland and Czechoslovakia were the fghting on the Polish side, moreover, they did characterises as a series of failure of institutional catastrophe of Trianon. The political interests of winners, and Hungary was a loser of World War I, not let their allies land to help the insurgents. cooperation—is worth remembering even in the Visegrad Countries have never been further all Visegrad Countries held territorial resentments, Instead, they watched as bystanders while Warsaw moments of optimism and celebration: apart than during these times.1615 given that these new states were created not was being razed to the ground. In Polish behavior - Poland (between 1772 and 1794), Hungary - During World War I, the need to gain further on the basis of the abstract principle of national and self-perception, the manifestation of societal (between 1825 and 1848), and Czechoslovakia allies and stir up the “hinterlands” led the Entente self-determination, but on realities of power and on responsibility through self-management is still a (between 1918 and 1938) all reacted to the European powers to lend support for creating an independ- perceived give-and-take mentality. As Visegrad defning trait. democratic and patriotic movement, but were un- Countries clung to their historical borders, efforts - After the end of World War II, the territory of able to fll their inherited historical territories with a to revise the post-WWI treaties were emphatic in Poland was shifted to the West. The Allies restored uniform national consciousness or manage them 15 István Bibó was a Hungarian lawyer, professor and their political plans. Democracy and international Czechoslovakia as a state with its 1938 borders. corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of according to a federalist model. Leaders of each law was overtook by the territorial principle and Discriminatory measures were taken against the Sciences, vice-president of the Eastern European In- country believed that, just like in the French model, regional rivalry as a driving force – though it was Hungarians. With shifting the borders, to a certain stitute, librarian, and political prisoner. His work as the 1617 the forces of democracy and freedom would bind greatest 20th century democratic political thinker in not a general rule, see the example of . extent Europe admitted to its earlier negligence their factious populations. After a period of sus- Hungary is outstanding even by international standards. All the three countries found themselves in a posi- of the Visegrad Countries. The status that we can As Minister of State in the Imre Nagy government in pended animation, the states of Eastern Europe accept our limits with complete psychological se- 1956, he opposed the Soviet occupation of Hungary. renity was only reached in the next century, with struggled with the diffculties of existence, and in 16 Cf. Bibó, I. (2011). A kelet-európai kisállamok nyomo- 17 Denmark announced in 1919 that it do not want to get this situation their hopes in the power of democracy rúsága. Argumentum Kiadó és Nyomda, Budapest, pp. back historical Danish territories except through popular 2–198. referendum.

24 SOCIETY SOCIETY 25 our accession to the European Union.1718 political form of the Visegrad Cooperation and by birth but via a constantly changing process, - Following World War II the East Central Europe- introduced the rotational, one year long presidency VISEGRAD and thus the paper will attempt to touch upon an region became part of the Soviet bloc. Some system. future possibilities as well. 6 progress in social mobility notwithstanding, democ- Visegrad Countries are thus bound together by The essay will examine the ties between the racy and the rule of law withered away, social ad- these common historical events. Their relationship, AS REGIONAL people of the Visegrad countries to see if together vancement faltered. Resistance acts against the the feelings their citizens have towards each oth- they could compose a Visegrad identity. The communist regimes, which began with the So- er are largely determined by these interactions. topics discussed will not only focus on territorial viet invasion, is depicted in the Gdańsk Solidarity Historical events have shaped cultural, religious, IDENTITY connections because being Visegradian means Museum as a joint phonocardiogram – resistance language identities, through which a shared set more than just coming from the region. It means reached peaks in Hungary in 1956, in Czecho- of values can be detected. On this ground, based In 1991 the Visegrad Three (which later became identifying with the unique natural landscape, slovakia in 1968, and in Poland in the 1980s. on this identity of values and lessons of history, the Visegrad Four) agreed on a common goal; the history, the culture, and the habits and customs Solidarność contributed seriously to the under- the Visegrad people can move forward effectively to re-join Europe after the decades of socialism. of local societies.7 mining of the power of the Polish United Workers’ and wisely, as our shared traditions, our similar They established five political aims within the In 2015 the International Visegrad Fund and Party. In 1989, it won the frst (quasi-) democratic developmental levels and economic performance framework of the Visegrad Cooperation: the res- the Institute for Public Affairs published a research elections which put its candidate, Lech Wałęsa, to make us natural allies. toration of democracy and freedom, the elimination paper (Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016)) the presidential seat. He was to become the third This year’s greatest big turn, the Brexit brought of totalitarian regimes, the embracing of the market about the public view of the Visegrad Cooperation party, alongside József Antall and Václav Havel, about changes that might impact our cooperation. economy, the rule of law, and parliamentary de- for the 25th anniversary of the Visegrad Declaration. to sign the Visegrad Cooperation. The socialist Our strength and effectivity might be boosted with mocracy, as well as European integration.1 People from the V4 Countries were polled on bloc failed to construct a common identity. A com- the EU’s shifting weight to the East. It is discernible Regionalism, which involves the cooperation different topics, such as whether they have mon legacy of this era is that the social services that the Visegrad Countries are now redefning of regions, is one of the most important strategies friends or family in other V4 countries, buy became accessible for the poorest, education their position within their narrow environment, of the European Union to improve its competi- things from the V4 partners, and so on. The became a tool to uplift those left behind, or for in the EU, and thus they contribute to the whole tiveness and is the source of the EU’s inner co- resulting statistics paint an interesting picture instance the maternity pay introduced in 1967. On recontuction of the EU. In this transforming be- hesion.2 Therefore, this paper aims to examine about the elements of the collective identity. the other hand, some of our ambivalent characteris- haviour – to use Castell’s framework – manifest sit- whether there is a “Visegrad identity” that could First, the essay will discuss the elements realised tics are rooted in this era: the slowly easing sense self the project identity of the Visegrad Countries strengthen the foremost political collaboration in micro-communities. of being secondary citizens, the lack of self-conf- that makes their primary identities – Christian, between the V4 countries. The most fundamental indicator is the level of dence or language command, cautious scepticism, defender of Europe, disillusioned, authoritari- For the purpose of this essay, Jan Assman’s personal connections between the citizens of pessimism, etc. an, freedom-loving, committed truth-seeker – definition of collective identity will be used. the V4 Countries. The historically and culturally - With the Soviet bloc falling apart in 1989, the complete. According to him, collective identity is defined close relationship between the Czechs and Slovaks Visegrad Countries adopted market economy IV. The events of the past 700 years outlined through a kind of identificatory determination has been shown by several polls regarding and multi-party systems. Our common goal was above, our cultural determinations, shared values, in a positive (“we are this”) sense.3 Collective friendships and family ties between the two the European integration which has been fulflled proposed solutions for shared problems, occasion- identity means recognizing the common features countries. Considering that the dissolution of with our accession to NATO (most in 1999, Slo- al joint actions, however, did not encompass the and the characteristics that distinguish the Czechoslovakia happened only 24 years ago, vakia in 2004) and the European Union (2004). whole regional structure. We need converging group from others.4 Its materialisation is through these close ties are understandable.8 The second In the meantime, the velvet divorce of the Czech institutions to strengthen our shared identity, to socialisation in micro-communities (family, closest connection was between Hungary and and Slovak Republics also took place. Our pres- enhance our mutual friendship, for instance in the friends, workplace) and through centrally in- Slovakia thanks to the significant Hungarian ent-day economic and legal framework was set felds of education, trade and energy security. Our fluenced methods (parties, media, school).5 It population in Slovakia. up in this era, and issues of material compensa- institutional systems have only been periodically also must be highlighted that identity is not given However, if we look at the number of visits tion as well as liability of communist crimes came successful so far. Today the question is what can between the countries, we can see that the into the fore. we build together. 1 Visegrad Declaration, 1991. Available: http://www. connection within the V4 is not as close as they - After the successful European accession in visegradgroup.eu/documents/visegrad-declarations/ would seem at first. The only exception is the visegrad-declaration-110412 [downloaded: 20 Septem- Slovak-Czech connection, where about 70% 2004 the prime ministers of the V4 states signed a ber 2016]. memorandum stating that they will continue their 2 Palkó, K. (2011). Az identitás területi dimenziói a poli- cooperation within the frameworks of the EU and tika tükrében, PhD dissertation, Faculty of Economics, Written by 6 NATO. At the same time they institutionalised the University of Pecs, p. 2. See e.g. The construction of identities. (2005), In: An- Dr Boglárka Szert 3 Assman, J. (1998). Kollektives Gedächtnis und kultur- nales. Historie, Sciences Sociales. Vol. 60, No. 1., pp. Head of the European elle Identität. In: Assman, J. és Hölscher, T. (eds.) Kultur 163–228. 18 7 Our most extensive everyday connections are still Union Relations Offce und Gedächtnis, Suhrkampf, Frankfurt a. M, p. 13. Enyedi, Gy. (2001). Tájak, régiók, települések Magya- through European Union intitutions, like the Erasmus 4 Palkó, K. (2011), p. 1. rországon. Ezredforduló. Vol. 4., pp. 19–23. programme. AJKC 5 Ibid. 8 Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: 31 December 1992.

26 SOCIETY SOCIETY 27 “ Do you have friends or acquaintances among the Czechs/ Hungarians/ Poles/ Slovaks? (in %) “Which important personalities come to your mind when you think of the Hungarian/Czech/ Polish/Slovak history?” Source: Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016). 25 years of the V4 as Seen by the Public, p. 24. Source: Gyárfášová, O. (2011). Do we know each other? Conference presentation.

of the population has visited the other country partner countries in local news, etc. Keeping in before. The Hungarian-Slovak link came in second mind that identity cannot be discussed using only once again, but the relationship is one-sided. While statistical data, this paper will focus on two aspects two-thirds of Slovaks have been to Hungary, to give an overview: how much we know about only about 30% of Hungarians have visited Slovakia each other’s history and how much we know before. In other relations, the average is around about the Visegrad Cooperation. 9 “Is there anybody in your family – in broader kinship – who lives in the Czech Republic/ Hungary/ Poland/ Slovakia?” (in %) 20-30%. As seen on the graph, the number of people The examined topic showed a defnite link between who have heard about the Visegrad Cooperation Source: Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016), p. 25. the V4 Countries (even if the extent of that link has changed over the time. This may be the varies), and it would, therefore make sense to influence of the changing attitude of political assume that we know each other’s cultures as elites towards the cooperation. Among the four well. The close Slovak-Czech connection can countries of the V4, the most known is Slovakia, be seen here as well, as the majority of people with the number barely changing between 2001 have seen movies/plays and read books made and 2015.11 In contrast, in Hungary and Poland, in the other country. There is also a significant the number of people who know about the V4 number of people in Slovakia who read Hungarian has decreased. The Czech Republic was the books or watch Hungarian films. Surprisingly, only country where the percentage has risen.12 in other combinations the level of knowledge When looking at the issue of history, the Slo- about each other’s culture was low.10 This aspect vak-Czech connection is the strongest again is important, as besides history, culture is the thanks to the long period of shared history. If other factor that can create the strongest personal we look at the results from all four countries, connections between different peoples. we can conclude that most of the people could If we look at deliberate ways of identity-construc- not name a historical figure from the history of tion, we must also discuss the level of knowledge the partner countries. Those who could, named about the Visegrad Cooperation, as its aim is to someone from the last century, even though, give the people as much information as possible to over the course of history, the countries had “ Have you ever visited the Czech Republic/ Hungary/ Poland/ Slovakia for touristic or recreational reasons?” create a feeling of solidarity and common mem- (% of answers “yes”) Source: Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016), p. 26 ories. Many things can be examined for this pur- 11 This can be attributed to the fact that active participa- pose: the presence of the Visegrad Cooperation in tion in the V4 became a part of their closing-up strategy political parties’ programmes, the inclusion of the after the government of Vladimir Mečiar, who did not support the European integration. 12 The change of interest can be traced back to sev- 9 Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016). 25 years of the eral factors. Poland has recently become an important V4 as Seen by the Public, Institute for Public Affairs [on- player in the feld of EU politics thanks to its strategic line]. Available: http://www.ivo.sk/buxus/docs//publika- location next to Russia, while the Czech Republic be- cie/subory/25_Years_of_the_V4_as_Seen_by_the_Pub- came more interested in the V4 after joining the EU, as lic.pdf [downloaded: 3 September 2016]. p. 25. it lost its status a “model student.” See Gyárfášová, O., 10 Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016), p. 28. Mesežnikov, G. (2016), pp. 9–10.

28 SOCIETY SOCIETY 29 “In last years have you seen a movie, a theatre performance or have you read a book by author/s coming from common monarchs several times, and, therefore and important achievement which in the end Czech Republic/ Hungary/ Poland/ Slovakia?” (in%) Source: Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016), p.28 some historical figures were taught in schools could lead to a regional identity. in all states. If we compare the spontaneous and centrally-in- tember [on-line]. Available: http://index.hu/ fluenced methods of identity-construction, we kulfold/2016/09/06/kozos_tevecsatornat_indith- can conclude that spontaneously created ties atnak_a_visegradi_orszagok/ [downloaded: 7 are stronger between the countries. The Visegrad September 2016]. Cooperation is based primarily on political grounds, and since building a Visegrad identity has not been its aim, this result is hardly surprising. In its introduction, the present paper highlighted the importance of a homogeneous economic, po- litical, and societal region in creating a collective identity. But this interdependence is also true when reversed: collective identity can be a useful “tool” in creating a homogeneous region.13 Thus, developing this feld could be benefcial in the long term as a feeling of togetherness and belonging could spur economic cooperation. It would be desirable if visiting the V4 Countries on holidays, looking for business partners there, and going on shopping trips would become second nature. Deliberate construction of identi- ty must be carried out in order to make the V4 more than a political cooperation. People must be given the opportunity to have frst-hand ex- „Have you heard about a group of countries, called Visegrad Four?” (in %) periences about the partner states so that they Source: Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016), p. 10. can have a personal connection with the concept of being Visegradian. This could be done through extensive educational programmes, supporting tourism, producing movies together, and so on. Although there is a long way ahead of us if we take into account that the Visegrad Cooperation is only 25 years old, the change in the connec- tion between the countries is enormous. For ex- ample the Slovak-Hungarian relationship, which has formerly been called the “Achilles-heel” of the V4, has improved noticeably during this time.14 The V4 has recognised the challenges of today’s Europe and in response turned towards deepening the cooperation. This is also implied by the announcement of the possibility of V4 tel- evision channel.15 This is defnitely an interesting

13 Palkó, K. (2011), p. 2. Written by 14 See e.g. Gyárfášová, O., Mesežnikov, G. (2016), Kitti Bocskor p. 19. 15 Kovács, M. D. (2016). Közös tévécsatornát International Relations Manager indíthatnak a visegrádi országok. Index, 6 Sep- AJKC

30 SOCIETY 31 4 CULTURE

Top CZECH REPUBLIC

Jiří Menzel – His flm won the Academy Jan Palach - A 20 years old student Václav Havel - A world-renowned Award for Best Foreign Language who set himself on fre on Wenceslas playwright and human rights Film. In his is dark comedy, My Square to protest against the activist, spokesman of Charter Antonín Dvořák – The worldwide Sweet Little Village, which was Soviet invasion of communist 77 who was elected as the frst recognised Czech composer also nominated for an Oscar, Czechoslovakia in 1968. president of Czech Republic employed elements from folk the main role was played by in 1993. music of Moravia and Bohemia. 5 a Hungarian actor, János Bán.

Lucie – The symbol of Svíčková - Beef sirloin with cream Czech was sauce and bread dumplings. founded in 1985.

Jaromír Jágr – As a professional Bohumil Hrabal - One of the most Milan Kundera – One of the leading ice hockey right winger playing in prominent Czech writers in the fgures of Prague Spring, today lives NHL, he is the leading all-time th 20 century. Among his best-known in incognito. His best-known work, point scorer among active works we can fnd Dancing Lessons The Unbearable Lightness of Being NHL players. for the Advanced in Age (a story was translated into Czech only 25 Alphonse Mucha – A Czech Art written in a single sentence), years after its success in the West. Nouveau painter, whose best-known Closely Watched Trains or I painting, the Slav Epic depicts the Served the King of England. Kyselice - Traditional soup based Knedlo-vepřo-zelo - Roast pork history of Slavic people on 20 on sourdough and mushrooms. with dumplings and cabbage. large canvases.

Jakub Kryštof Rad - The creator of the very frst cube-shaped sweetener in the small town of Dačice.

Kryštof – This Czech rock band, Markéta Irglová – Her song Falling founded in 1994 is still at the Slowly won the Academy Award for top of Czech hit lists. Tomáš Sedláček – Former econom- Miloš Forman – The movie One Best Original Song in 2007, ic advisor of Vaclav Havel, today he Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is featured in the movie Once. is one of the ‘Young guns – 5 hot Bedřich Smetana – The Father considered to be one of the Becherovka – A well-known Minds in Economics’ according of Czech Music is best known for greatest films ever made herbal liqueur produced by to the Yale Economic Review. his opera The Bartered Bride. was directed by Forman. Povidla - Thick plum jam. Jan Becher in Karlovy Vary.

32 CULTURE CULTURE 33 Top SLOVAKIA

Tibor Bártfay – Was among outstanding personalities of Peter Dvorský – With his unique Slovak art and modern sculpting. lyrical voice with an elastic tone, He received the UNESCO Prize for Štefan Banič - Inventor who he is the ‘legitimate successor’ his humane approach to life in 1985, patented an early parachute design. of Luciano Pavarotti. and the World Peace Council medal one year later.

Margita Figuli – Three Chestnut Horses is a gem of Slovak naturalism written in 1940. The novel takes us into a Slovak village where we can 5 witness the triumph of pure love.

Andrej Kiska – A Slovak business- The House – The best Slovak Bryndzové halušky – Slovak potato man and philanthropist, who has movie of the last years is telling a dumplings with bryndza cheese. been President of Slovakia since story of young and ambitious Eva, 2014. His non-proft charitable who is planning to leave behind her organization, Good Angel helps small village and move to London, families in diffcult fnancial situation. Iveta Radičová – Was the very frst but her father is building her a house woman Prime Minister of Slovakia in the backyard… from 2010 to 2012. The Woman of Laczo Déczi – The Slovak trumpet the Year (2010) also received player, composer and band leader AIPES Freedom Award in 2013. living in the .

Funny Fellows – This Slovak Ľudovít Štúr – Slovak philosopher, old-time band brings back 20s-40s poet and politician; the leader of the music with original instrument and th Slovak national revival in the 19 The Shop on Main Street – The costumes. century. He was also the author of highest rated flm in the history of Borovička - Slovak alcoholic bever- the standards. Slovak cinema. The story about age favoured with juniper berries. Tono Brtko, a Slovak carpenter, Parenica - Steamed and smoked won an Oscar in 1966. Slovak cheese.

Karpatské Chrbáty – They began performing in 1982, however, state Jozef Kroner - Starred in The Shop Peter Sagan – Considered one of authorities banned their music. Four on Main Street, he is the most cycling’s greatest talents; Sagan won Tatranský čaj (Tatra Tea) - Pohoda Festival – The biggest years later they changed the band’s famous Slovak actor nowadays. seven stages in Tour de France and Tea-based herbal liqueur from open-air music festival in Slovakia name and since then, they are The Jozef Kroner Awards was four stages in other Grand Tours. Žinčica - Traditional Slovak drink High Tatras; it has 11 favours, all organised annually on Trenčín popular band, established after his death. His nickname is Travolta. made of sheep’s milk whey. differing in alcohol by volume. Airport. not only in Slovakia.

34 CULTURE CULTURE 35 Top HUNGARY

Zoltán Kodály – The prominent composer and authority on Hun- Ferenc Liszt – Universally garian folk music, who developed recognised Hungarian musician the worldwide famous Kodaly Emery Róth – Hungarian architect th from 19 century is still one of concept, which is an integration of designed many of the impressive the greatest in the world. many of the best techniques and buildings in New York incorporating József Antall – The frst democrat- approaches to music education. Beaux-Arts and Art Deco in his ically-elected Prime Minister of works. His company, Emery Róth & Hungary. In recognition of his work, Sons designed also the iconic one of the buildings of the European building of the World Trade Center. 5 Parliament in Brussels was named after him in 2008.

Sziget Festival – Island of freedom Gulyás – Traditional Hungarian soup is the biggest multicultural event in Ferenc Puskás – The most originated from the 9th century. bv Europe which attracts almost half well-known and popular Hungarian million fans from all over the world. person is still a role-model for millions of young football player.

Katinka Hosszú – Hungary’s Iron István Szabó – The internationally Lady was the Best Female Swimmer Szeged Contemporary Dance well-known Hungarian flmmaker in the World in 2015 and currently Company – With their incredibly won the Academy Award for Best she is the 9th Most Valuable Athlete various and unique repertoire, this Foreign Language Film with Mephisto. in Europe. Chimney Cake – A sweet spiral contemporary ballet ensemble have bread from Transylvania, often Ernő Rubik – The Hungarian won the recognition of national and inventor is best known for the rolled in cinnamon, cocoa or nuts. Imre Kertész – The frst Hungarian, international audiences as well. invention of the Rubik’s cube. who won Nobel Prize in Literature for his novel Fatelessness.

Fisherman’s soup – A traditional Dobos Cake – The famous Hungarian soup of paprika-spiced Hungarian sponge cake is layered broth and thick cuts of fsh. with chocolate buttercream and Robert Capa – The Hungarian Csík Band – Mixing traditional topped with crystalised caramel. photo journalist who redefned war Hungarian peasant folk music with Győző Vásárhelyi – The most time photojournalism with his Tankcsapda – The most famous rock, jazz and classical music, and famous French-Hungarian painter, Lángos – A plate sized fried dough action photographs,portraying Hungarian hard-rock band the band received the title “Excellent the leader of the op art movement. smothered with sour cream, cheese the violence of war. from Debrecen. Folk Art Ensemble” in 1992. He is well-known as Victor Vasarely. and garlic sauce.

36 CULTURE CULTURE 37 Top POLAND

Zbigniew Brzezinski – The national security advisor to the president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Roman Polański – One of the most famous Polish directors, whose frst feature movie, Knife in the Water Lech Wałęsa – This electrician from Krzysztow Kieślowski – (Nóż w wodzie) was nominated for Gdansk shaped the end of the 20th This infuential Polish flm director is Academy Award for Best Foreign century as the leader of the Solidarity known internationally for Dekalog, Language Film. movement. The Double Life of Veronique. 5 Ida – The movie directed by Pawel Pawlikowski won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Pope John Paul II (born Karol Chopin – A Romantic Wojtyła) – The frst non-Italian pope Żubrowka – composer who changed the world in 455 years, is probably the most The Polish bison grass vodka. of keyboard music forever. famous Pole ever, who modernised the papacy. Kasia Stankiewicz – As former lead singer of Varius Manx, she became a solo artist moving the boundaries of Polish music with her progressive art. Adam Mickiewicz – His collection of poems opened the romantic era Maria Skoldowska-Curie – She paved the way for nuclear physics in Polish literature. Placki ziemniaczane - A thin and cancer by discovering radium. pancake made with granted onion, Żurek - Polish sour rye soup Barszcz – Traditional Polish soup parsnips and other vegetables. from red beetroot, onions, garlic and traditionally eaten at Easter. other vegetables.

Nicolaus Copernicus – – The winner of Hey – Their songs were hugely The founder of modern astronomy Republika – This art-punk band Pierogi - Dumplings, usually flled Polish Pop Idol, she is considered Myslovitz- The biggest Polish infuential in 90s and the Polish indie from Torun is famous for his from Torun showed new direction with sauerkraut, mushrooms, as the most exciting European alternative rock band from music was shaped mainly by them. heliocentric planetary theory. to Polish scene. meat, potato, savoury cheese. pop star in a generation. a small Silesian town.

38 CULTURE CULTURE 39 , CZECH REPUBLIC Moravian Gallery. This building contains various art collections ranging from the Brno was listed by The Guardian Gothic to the 19th century, while also as one of the top ten alternative housing the ArtMap bookstore and city “breaks” of Europe in 2016. MORGAL Café. The other buildings Alongside Mexico City and Toron- of the Moravian Gallery include the AD to, it also appears on the list recom- Museum of Applied Arts, the Jurkovič R C mending 52 cities to visit by The New House, and Josef Hoffmann Museum. York Times. In addition, Brno made it Brno’s Museum of Romani Culture, located G IT onto the 2016 list of must-see cities compiled in the heart of the local Romani community, is by National Geographic. Brno is one of the most outstanding. It contains a vast permanent ex- E underrated cities in Europe, but I do believe that it hibition on the history and culture of the Roma I people, as well as their situation in the Czech E is exactly what gives its appeal. S What impressed me most about Brno was the lands from 1945 to 1989. The Mendel Museum, which commemorates Johann Mendel, the father I number of cultural places available. Národní Divadlo

S Brno-Janáčkovo Divadlo (Brno’s National Theat- of genetics, is also worth visiting while in Brno. er) is a perfect concert venue. Mahenovo Divadlo Mendel spent a substantial part of his life at St.

(Mahen Theatre), which was built in 1882, is the Thomas’s Abbey having conducted most of his V frst theatre in Europe to be lit entirely by electric crucial experiments this city. light. In addition, it hosted the premiers of some of the greatest works of composer Leoš Janáček. Besides the theatres, I wold suggest that you visit the opera, as well as attend the performances of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra or the national ballet company which provide a nice opportunity to indulge in a unique cultural experience. As a ballet enthusiast, I must highlight the city’s na- tional ballet company for their rich repertoire and committed artists, which also runs a recreational ERIKA KOVÁCSOVÁ SYLVIE WAGNEROVÁ programme of the highest quality for adults. When discussing the cultural events Brno has to offer, the Moravian Gallery should also be men- tioned. It encompasses fve different buildings and constitutes the second largest art museum in the Czech Republic (The National Gallery in Prague being the largest). My favorite building National Theatre of Brno located within the Moravian Gallery is the Pražák Palace, which presents collections of modern and contemporary art, with special regard to the works by Czech avant-garde groups such as Osma (The Eight), Tvrdošíjní (The Obstinate) LILIANA GUEVARA MAŁGORZATA ŚLIWA and The Group of Visual Artists. The courtyard of OPINSKA Pražák Palace contains interesting sculptures; it transforms into a concert venue on Friday nights. There is a nice coffee shop right beside Pražák Palace that attracts lovers of art. The Governor’s Palace, a former Augustinian monastery, is yet another building belonging to the The Moravian Gallery

40 CULTURE 41 CRACOW, POLAND ing movie screenings and dance perfor- mances. Cracow, which recently hosted the It is worth considering to go to MO- 2016 World Youth Days, is an excit- CAK, Schindler Factory, or BAL by ing, culturally rich city, a true Polish streetcar as the memorial commem- gem. Cracow, situated in Lesser Po- orating the Jewish Ghetto is located land by the Vistula River, is the second right behind one of its stops. When largest and one of the oldest cities in arriving to the square, you will see a Poland. For centuries, it was the centre of monument consisting of a large number Polish cultural and artistic life that also of fxed, metallic chairs all facing in the had important economic role. Cracow same direction. has long academic tradition as well. Lastly, you do not truly experience MOCAK In 1364, the Jagiellonian University, Cracow until you have been to the one of the oldest universities in the Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, which is world, was founded by Casimir III in heart of Cracow’s cultural, social the Great. You should visit the old- and night life. Kazimierz gives home est and most beautiful building of the to many coffee shops, restaurants, university called Collegium Maius. The bars, pubs, and clubs. It is a part of the large, fourteenth-century courtyard surrounded by city most frequented by locals and tourists on arcades is magnifcent and so is the Old Library Friday and Saturday nights. There is a hint of nos- Chamber that can be visited on a tour. talgia to all of these places, as most of them are Every historical period made its mark on Cracow. decorated with antique furniture and paintings, as You can marvel at the diverse architecture, walk well as black and white photographs. through the Old Town, climb up to the Wawel Hill In Wieliczka, there is a salt mine, while in and visit Royal Castle, engage in deep contem- Oświęcim nearby, there is an Auschwitz-Birk- Collegium Maius Museum of Romani Culture plation in the Church of the Virgin Mary (Kościół enau State Museum (Polish: Państwowe Muzeum Mariacki), or discover the Cracow Historical Auschwitz-Birkenau) that commemorates those Museum in Old Market Underground. losing their lives in concentration camps during To experience Polish cultural heritage, you World War II. should also pay a visit to at least one of the many art museums Cracow has in order to learn more about the extraordinary works of Polish painters of the Young Poland movement (a modernist period in Polish art lasting approximately from 1890 to 1918). Visitors staying for a shorter time are rec- ommended to go to see “Gallery of the 19th-cen- tury Polish Art: The Sukiennice” (The Cloth Hall) frst. The Sukiennice is the central building of the main market square which has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1978. Contemporary art enthusiasts are recommend- ed to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cracow or MOCAK. MOCAK, just like the Oskar Schindler Enamel Factory, is located on the south- ern fank of the Vistula River. The intensive tour at museums can be followed by a delicious lunch at BAL. The huge industrial building transformed into a café frequently hosts cultural events includ- Wawel Cloth Hall

42 CULTURE CULTURE 43 PRAGUE, because there are many theatres presenting performances in English. CZECH REPUBLIC Moreover, the Opera House and the globally-recognised Czech Philhar- Every time I speak to foreigners monic Orchestra offer a lifetime ex- about visiting Prague, I notice that perience for enthusiasts of classical those who are brave enough to go music – on reasonable prices. off ‘the beaten track’ and those who A calm afternoon is guaranteed when just follow guided tours and tourist books visiting Vyšehrad and its fort, as well as the have a very different impression of the city. St. George’s Basilica, which provides an amaz- There are many remarkable places beyond the city ing view over Prague and the beautiful cemetery, centre, for instance in the districts Vinohrady, the fnal resting place of many famous Czech Letná, Holešovice, or Karlín, where visitors can personalities. To see a thoughtful contemporary enjoy a perfect walk or refresh themselves in one art exhibition, pay a visit to the DOX gallery; to of the cosy cafes or restaurants. The city has a learn more about recent Czech history, visit the unique variety of architectural styles, as the Czech Václav Havel Library. If you look for an outdoor Republic is the only country in the world where space with live music to end your day, Náplavka, cubism was applied in street architecture. an area by the river which is always vivid on warm The Czech capital provides many opportunities summer nights, is a must-see. for theatre fans, even for non-Czech speakers, Kriváň St. Michael’s Tower

SLOVAKIAN CITIES AND When talking about Slovakia, we should not forget to mention nature and folk OTHER ATTRACTIVE traditions. Those interested in folklore PLACES should visit Vlkolínec, a little village included in the UNESCO world Slovakia is a small country located in heritage list, to learn more about Central Europe. The capital, Bratisla- Slovak traditions and architecture. Tra- va, is a popular place to visit during the ditional food is also worth mentioning. whole year. The most attractive area of the Although it is simple, it is excellent as it city is Old Town, where most of the historic sites, usually contains very basic ingredients such as such as St. Michael’s Tower, as well as cultur- milk, potato, or cabbage. The most famous national al institutions and restaurants can be found. The meal, bryndzové halušky, is a must-try for everyone symbol of the city is the deservedly famous Castle visiting Slovakia. of Bratislava, which is situated in the close vicinity One of the peculiarities of the country is nature. of the Danube. One of the protected areas is the National Park of The second largest town of Slovakia is Košice, the Tatra Mountains (TANAP) in the north of Slova- which is in the centre of the eastern part of the kia covering the high-mountain area of the Tatras. country. It has the biggest church, the gothic St. The tallest mountain of Slovakia is one of the peaks Elisabeth Cathedral. of the High Tatras, Gerlachovský štít (2,655 m). The most prestigious universities are to be found The symbol of the country is the mountain, Kriváň, in these cities, such as Comenius University in which is also depicted on the 1 and 2 euro cent Bratislava and the Pavol Josef Safarik University in coins. In the winter, Slovaks and tourists visit the Košice. However, there are many popular universi- Tatra Mountains to ski, while in the summer they ties in other towns including Prešov, Trnava, Žilina, go for hiking and tracking. There are also many Nitra, and Banská Bystrica. unique caves available for the public. Vlkolínec DOX Gallery St. George’s Basilica

44 CULTURE CULTURE 45 5 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS “The most important conduct research in the countries of the Eastern Partnership, V4, and Western Balkans. The suc- objective of the Fund is cessful work of the Visegrad Fund is also proven by the fact that in November 2015 the Western INTERVIEW WITH VERONIKA ANTALL-HORVÁTH, to strengthen the internal Balkan Fund was set up along the lines of the IVF.

FORMER TRUSTEE FOR HUNGARY, INTERNATIONAL cohesion of the V4 through As the IVF’s Former Trustee for Hungary, how different projects and would you describe the functioning of the VISEGRAD FUND Hungarian NGOs? How active are the civil or- mobility tools.” ganisations in Hungary? As the International Visegrad Fund’s (IVF) The number of applications submitted to the Fund Former Trustee for Hungary, how would you At the time of its establishment, the main is continuously growing, but, due to the scale of sum up the Fund’s work and aims? task of the International Visegrad Fund was differences, less people know about the possible If it is not a problem, I would like to start with the to strengthen the cooperation between the projects and scholarships fnanced by us than organisation’s history: the International Visegrad citizens and institutions of the Visegrad re- about the EU grants and Erasmus scholarships. Fund was established on 9 June 2000 with the gion. Looking back at the past 15 years of the At the same time, we have a number of “revisiting” aim to tighten the educational, research, scientifc, Fund’s work, would you say that this goal applicants who have for years successfully realised and civil cooperation between the countries of the was achieved? Visegrad projects. One of the most common mis- Visegrad Group – a group whose creation was Defnitely! Insomuch that if we look back at the conceptions about the Fund is that it is able to envisaged by Prime Minister József Antall. The establishment of the Visegrad Fund we can see fnance maintenance costs. However, an NGO International Visegrad Fund (IVF) is the only in- that the member states initially contributed 250 cannot operate on the long run if it wants to sustain stitutionalised organisation of the Visegrad Co- thousand euros per country to the joint budget itself only through Fund’s Visegrad related projects. operation whose goal, at the time of its creation, whereas today, this sum reaches two million eu- Overall, it seems to me that the Fund has lived was to support non-governmental, civil initiatives. ros. This means that the Fund currently has an up to all expectations, while the Visegrad point The Fund’s headquarters is in Bratislava. search grants, and the “Residencies” programmes 8-million-euro budget. All this made it possible of view is increasingly present in the civil sector. which mostly offer fnancial support to art fellow- for the IVF to support the realisation of thousands Moreover, with the help of the programmes support- Who can apply for the grants offered by the ships. Within the three main groups, 20 additional of projects since its creation. In addition, the suc- ed by us, more and more people start to relate to Fund? grants are available. cessful work of the Fund is also highlighted by this kind of regional identity. It was a great honour If we look at the applicants, we can see that the the fact that, since 2004 – besides the initiatives and pleasure to personally participate in this work grants are available to everybody, the only cri- What are those areas where the Fund has de- focusing on the V4 region – the IVF has also and I would like to wish good luck to the next Hun- teria are that the event has to focus on a V4 re- veloped the most? supported projects in the countries of the Eastern garian trustee who will take on this colourful and lated topic and it has to involve one or more V4 We are equally proud of all of our projects and Partnership and the Western Balkans. This slightly interesting task. institutions. On the other hand, it is also important to achievements. However, I personally would like increased the scale of possibly implementable emphasise that governmental institutions cannot to highlight the importance of the Fund’s different projects. These not only include the organisation of apply for grants. That means that a completely grants, as in my opinion the collection of personal different conferences and workshops, but – mostly government-funded institution cannot hand in experiences is a truly important aspect, while in the case of projects realised in the countries of applications. For example, the Polish Embassy feedback also shows that this is the most popular the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans in Budapest can neither apply, nor be a partic- area of the Fund’s work. – also the exchange and transfer of experience, ipating partner in the projects realised with the as well as the presentation of different research help of the grants, as the primary focus is on “Overall, it seems to me results in order to help the effcient operation of civil cooperation. The most important objective the democratic institutions of these countries. of the Fund is to strengthen the internal cohesion that the Fund has lived up That is also the reason why there are more than of the V4 through different projects and mobility to all expectations, while one-year-long, practice-oriented projects as well. tools. Naturally, we also support scientifc research. As the Visegrad point of view a part of this, the Fund backs the publication of What are the main programme types that are scientifc papers and articles, as well as provides The interview was conducted in October 2016 by realised with the help of the Fund? is increasingly present in different grants to those students and researchers Péter Dobrowiecki, Head of the V4 and CEI Offce Grant possibilities are divided into three main planning to pursue their master’s programme or of AJKC. groups: “Grants”, “Scholarships” focusing on re- the civil sector.”

46 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 47 (Casimir III), Bohemia (John of Luxemburg) and the very basics in a tense political atmosphere. UNITY IN DIVERSITY (?) - V4 IN THE EU Hungary (Charles I) met there to establish the During this process the (re)defnition of its foreign cornerstones of possible cooperation between relations, especially those with its neighbours these countries. was particularly important, as these formed the At the very beginning the Visegrad Cooperation key elements of its integration into the EU and focused on two main objectives: the dissolution NATO. Although the European Agreement with of the integrating structures of the communist the EU was signed on 4 October 1993, the un- system of which they were once part of and the stable political situation and the huge defcit re- accession to the European Union and the North ported in the area of human and minority rights, Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The main aim of as well as the lack of democratic principles in the economic cooperation was the creation of a the country’s political, legal and social system free trade area, as it was expressed in the Cen- resulted in the postponement of the start of the tral European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) accession negotiations with the EU. The other signed on 21 December 1992 in Cracow.3 These three Visegrad Countries however, were more frst years of cooperation were also infuenced successful. Hungary and Poland were the lead- by the Prague Summit in 1992, during which the ers of the transformation process in the Central basics of political cooperation – based on the European region. Contrary to other countries “new model of relations” – were laid down.4 Due in the region, Hungary had been a member of to these priorities, the cooperation took the form GATT (General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade) of intergovernmental meetings and focused since 1975, and it was the frst country in 1994 mainly on issues connected to foreign policy. which offcially submitted its formal application EU membership, as the number one priority, for EU membership. Poland, as the frst former required intensive preparation during which the Eastern Bloc country with a non-communist led most important aim was to establish democratic government in Central Europe was also among institutions and to advance the rule of law. It can the frst countries on the path of political transi- be said that at the very beginning the aim of tion in the region. Poland presented its offcial the Cooperation was to prove that this group of application for EU membership also in 1994 and post-communist countries consists of members four years later together with the Czech Republic that are able to cooperate with each other in and Hungary it was invited by the European On 15th February this year, the Visegrad Co- on the road to Europe.”1 The developments in the order to achieve the above mentioned targets, Commission to the start of accession negotiations. operation celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Baltic States in January 1991 convinced even while also building up an image of a group of In 1997 all of the V4 Countries except Slovakia establishment. Since 1991 the Visegrad Group more the presidents of the Visegrad states to the countries which are worthy of EU accession. This were selected as prime candidates to join the went through several changes and only a few necessity of the establishment of a joint cooper- kind of collective approach to the EU played a NATO. The exclusion from the NATO integration believed that this group will become one day a ation framework which was ultimately manifest- signifcant role in the signing of the European process was a wake-up call for Slovakia and the remarkable form of regional cooperation. Dur- ed in the signing of the Visegrad Declaration. Agreements with the Visegrad Group countries elections in 1998 caused fundamental changes ing these 25 years the V4 became a signifcant The document highlighted that “the similarity of in 1991. in its internal political climate. In order to meet regional group and has contributed to the sus- the situation which arose in the course of the From 1993 on, however, due to some nega- the Copenhagen membership criteria, the new tainability of stability in the Central and Eastern past decades compels the three states to work tive political developments, a period of de- Slovak government initiated a number of political European Region. toward the achievement of identical goals.”2 The cline could be observed which were especially and economic reforms. The result of this intensive While evaluating these 25 years, one should venue itself (the Castle of Visegrád), where the strong in Slovakia. Slovakia was in a special catch up period was that Slovakia, slowly but ask, why the Visegrad Cooperation is still relevant declaration was signed has a strong symbol- situation after 1993, because as a newly inde- steadily, fulflled all membership criteria which in the European Union today and what the aim ic meaning, as more than 650 years ago, the pendent country, it had to identify herself from eventually led to the country’s invitation to open and purpose of this cooperation should be after then rulers of the region, the kings of Poland accession negotiations.5 Five and half years after the post-accession period? When the presidents of the three countries 1 Cottey, A. (1999). Subregional Cooperation in the New 3 The CEFTA membership of the V4 countries ended af- (Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland) met in- Europe, Palgrave McMillan, London. p. 70. ter their accession to the EU. 5 Nič, M., Slobodník, M. and Šimečka M. (2014). Slova- formally in Prague at the beginning of the 90s, 2 Visegrad Declaration, 1991. Available: http://www. 4 Dienstbier, J. Visegrad – The First Phase. Available: kia in the EU: An Unexpected Success Story?, DGAP their main aim was to discuss “the ‘coordina- visegradgroup.eu/documents/visegrad-declarations/ http://www.visegradgroup.eu/the-visegrad-book/dien- Analyse [on-line]. Available: http://www.cepolicy.org/ visegrad-declaration-110412 [downloaded: 20 Septem- stbier-jiri-visegrad [downloaded: 21 September 2016]. sites/cepolicy.org/fles/attachments/2014_06_dgapan- tion of policies’ and ‘synchronisation of steps’ ber 2016]. alyse_slovakia_www_fnal.pdf [downloaded: 1 October

48 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 49 the end of Mečiar-era, Slovakia was able to fnish a Central and Eastern European background,8 the enhancement of stability and security, in- Development Aid) are Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia the accession talks on time, and all four V4 with Donald Tusk’s delegation to the presidential creased cooperation with the EU’s neighbour- and Herzegovina, Moldova and Serbia.15 The countries were able to join the EU together in seat of the European Council having the same ing regions and the enhancement of econom- aim of this form of foreign policy is to share their 2004. effect in 2014. ic growth. The biggest success of the Polish own so called transition experience and to help The EU and NATO membership, however, did Following the V4 states’ accession, the Czech presidency in the second half of 2011 was the create more stable democracies in the region. not weaken the importance of the V4 Cooperation. Republic was the frst country from the Group acceptance of the so-called six-pack of bills on Although some scholars argue that the V4 Despite “the key objectives set in the 1991 which took over the presidency of the EU Council economic governance, which for instance includ- works mainly on those issues that do not require Visegrad Declaration have been achieved”6, in 2009. The presidency itself is a great chance ed preventive sanctions that could force mem- too much political capital,16 the above mentioned Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland for a country to receive extra attention, to present ber states to correct their macroeconomic policy. examples show us, that slowly but steadily this declared their commitment to “continue devel- itself and represent the European Union on the Despite the fact that Poland is the co-founder trend is changing. Due to the extended activities in oping the cooperation of the Visegrad Group international scene. It was a diffcult period, and the biggest supporter of the Eastern Part- the region, the Visegrad Cooperation is an ac- countries” in the Kromĕříž Declaration signed however, for the Czech Republic, which was nership Programme, the failed signing of the knowledged brand today, which can be looked in 2004, after the EU accession of the V4 Countries. negatively marked by the fnancial crisis, the long-anticipated association agreement with upon as a pillar for the further cooperation in the This declaration is important not only because Russian-Georgian confict and the end of the Ukraine caused headaches during (and after) broader region. it determines the V4’s new identity within the EU term of offce of the and the presidency as well.12 However, the singing and the NATO, but also because it introduced the European Parliament. As a good crisis manag- of the membership treaty with Croatia in Decem- the rotating one year presidency during which er, the Czech Republic was able to handle the ber was accepted as a success. each country prepares its own presidency program natural gas crisis, made valuable contribution The Slovak presidency constitutes the middle in the spirit of continuity and long-term V4 Coopera- to the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood Policy by stage of the 18-month common work programme tion. What’s more, EU accession has helped to launching the Eastern Partnership Program at of the , Slovakia and Malta. Despite boost the already existing ties between these the Prague Summit, and the 3rd Energy Liber- the fact that it may be too early to evaluate the countries, while in the same it also opened alisation Package9 was also signed. The failed results of the presidency, there are already new channels for further cooperation. The most ratifcation of the Lisbon Treaty in the Czech some developments worthy of mentioning. One visible results of the EU membership are the eco- Republic before the presidency, on the other of them is the so called “fexible solidarity” an- nomic improvements: Slovakia and Poland have hand, caused concerns among other member nounced during the Bratislava Summit in Sep- more than doubled their GDP per capita while states.10 tember 2016, as part of the Joint Paper of the the export of the V4 Group grew three times The main priorities of the Hungarian presidency V4,13 which provides an alternative to the relo- faster than the export of the EU 15 which means in 2011 were the further enlargement of the EU, cation of refugees and migrant quotas.14 Another that currently the V4 is the fourth largest exporter the neighbourhood policy and the EU Strategy for big result of the ongoing Slovak presidency is in the EU.7 The V4 states gained economically the Danube Region. The unquestionable success the acceptation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Written by a lot from the EU accession, but they are not of the Hungarian presidency was showed by the membership application by the EU. Ágnes Vass only stronger from an economic point of view fact that some additional negotiation chapters The V4 Countries play an important role in the International Relations Manager today. From the V4’s point of view, it was also with Croatia were closed – while the accession EU’s foreign relations, mainly in the relations with AJKC particularly important that the former prime minis- treaty itself was signed during the Polish presiden- the Western Balkans and the Post-Soviet region. ter of Poland, Jerzy Buzek was elected as the cy.11 During its presidency Poland focused on According to the data from OECD’s online data- frst president of the European Parliament with base, the most important recipients of Czech, Hungarian, Slovakian and Polish ODA (Offcial 8 Jerzy Buzek was the president of the European Parlia- 2016]. ment between 2009 and 2014. 6 Declaration of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, 9 The aim of this package is to improve costumer rights, http://www.sieps.se/sites/default/files/2011_1op.pdf the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the separate supply and production from transition activities [downloaded: 3 October 2016]. Slovak Republic on cooperation of the Visegrad Group and promote regional solidarity in emergence situations. 12 Karelowski, I. P., Mehlhausen, T. and Sus, M. (2014). countries after their accession to the European Union. 10 Dostál, V. (2014). From Integration to Differentia- Poland’s EU-Council Presidency under Evaluation, No- 12 May 2004. Available: http://www.visegradgroup. tion: The Czech Republic in the European Union Ten mos, Baden-Baden. eu/2004/declaration-of-prime. [downloaded: 27 Sep- Years On, DGAP analyse [on-line]. Available: http:// tember 2016]. www.cepolicy.org/sites/cepolicy.org/files/attach- 13 Joint Statement of the Heads of Governments of the 15 OECD.Stat data: http://stats.oecd.org/. 7 Erste Group (2014). Visegrad Countries – 10 years ments/2014_09_dgapanalyse_dostal_www_final.pdf V4 Countries. 16 September 2016. Available: http:// 16 See e.g.: Lucas, E. (2013). Visegrád – hezký, ale of EU membership: plenty to celebrate, yet more [downloaded: 2 October 2016]. www.visegradgroup.eu/calendar/2016/joint-statement- postradatelný, Hospodářské Noviny, 22 April. Available: work ahead to become key European players. Avail- 11 Romsics, G. (2011). An Interim Review of the 2011 of-the-160919 [downloaded: 30 September 2016]. http://nazory.ihned.cz/komentare/c1-59716840-viseg- able: https://www.erstebank.hu/static/internet/down- Hungarian Presidency: Finding a New Niche for the Ro- 14 The fexible solidarity should enable member states to rad-hezky-ale-postradatelny [downloaded: 3 October load/140423_Visegrad_Four___10_years_of_EU_mem- tating Presidency in Times of Storm and Stress, Swedish voluntarily decide on the forms of their contibution in the 2016]. bership__eng_.pdf [downloaded: 20 September 2016]. Institute for European Policy Studies [on-line]. Available: handling the refugee crisis.

50 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 51 15

state rejects to comply.6 According to the Ministry thus the government must be prepared for the V4 PERCEPTION ON REFORMS OF of Foreign Affairs, Slovakia did not fnd this recom- infow of asylum seekers.10 It is the cornerstone of mendation as a viable tool for handling the migration the fght against illegal migration to implement a crisis.7 This 250.000 euros fee is a nightmare said readmission agreement and a consistent return THE EUROPEAN MIGRATION Vladimir Maňka, Member of the European Parlia- policy, according to the representatives of the ment of SMER. He is convinced that the EP will not Slovak Presidency of the V4 Group. We cannot support the idea and hopes to see more and more accept any proposal, which is not working in order AND ASYLUM POLICY member states who would reject this, because just receive Brussel’s praise. The faws of former they realized how wrong the recent recommenda- EU proposals are also shown by the fact that only a tions of the European Commission were. The EU limited number of asylum seekers were relocated so 1 Due to the unexpected increase of asylum seek- Slovaks and the economy of the country. The fear member states should fnd a joint solution based far. Slovakia is going to support proposals which ers on the Western Balkan routes in the summer from economically motivated immigration is not the on solidarity instead of blaming each other. It is not work, PM Fico argued.11 of 2015, traditional immigration countries in Western only aspect of the Slovak understanding on mi- hard to understand why right wing and populist Europe developed a reform agenda on EU im- gration. The image of Jihadist terrorists hiding in movements are stronger, while Europe only tries to Czech Republic migration and asylum policy. CEE countries had refugee camps appears from time to time in the react on the crisis and is not able to fnd a long-term The Czech Republic cannot be regarded as a main 2, 3 been more or less unaffected in terms of immigra- Slovak public discourse. solution. Now – according to SMER – they real- destination point for refugees.12 In the summer of tion and asylum in the past decades, but now they After the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks PM Fico ized how important it is to address the real issues 2015, a massive infow of asylum seekers appeared articulated their different viewpoint on the matter. announced to restrict detention conditions and and Maňka welcomes the EU-Turkey Joint Action in Greece, Italy and Hungary but the political During the course of the Czech presidency of the implement forced returns, when necessary. Ac- Plan and readmission agreements with safe third agenda has not remained unaffected in the Czech V4 Group, numerous declarations were published cording to him, Slovak authorities monitor and countries.8 Republic as well and migration became a top about migration, while most of the times Hungary conduct surveillance on every Muslim in the country, Extremist movements gained support from priority.13 Reacting to the 2015 Paris attacks, Prime was the main actor beyond these initiations, which because the safety of Slovak citizens is the primary certain borders incidents too.9 In order to prevent Minister Sobotka expressed Czech willingness to 4 declined to support resettlement and relocation concern of the government. On the other hand it further confrontations, the Interior Ministry built a plans of the European Commission and openly is worth mentioning that the Slovak government mobile fence at the green border and PM Fico 5 criticized the Dublin Regulations. In order to promote supports Christian refugees. announced that it seems inevitable that Slovakia is 10 Pri Veľkom Mederi strieľali na prevádzačov, za- a strong East European voice on migration in the There was a huge protest against the proposal going to turn into a transit country of immigration, siahli sýrsku utečenku (2016). Pravda, 9 May. [on- EU decision-making process it was of utmost of the European Commission in May 2016, which line]. Available: http://spravy.pravda.sk/domace/ importance for Budapest to have the support of the aimed to enforce relocation plans with a potential clanok/392490-policia-zadrzala-styri-auta-migrant- ov-jednu-migrantku-postrelili/ [downloaded 13 Septem- V4 states. Although Poland was absent from the sanction of 250.000 euros per person if one member 6 Along with the tentative Council decision, mem- ber 2016]. vote about EU emergency relocation plans in the ber-states shall pay a 250.000 euros fee, if they do not 11 Kaliňák: Ukazuje sa, že postoje SR k migračnej kríze summer of 2015, the newly-elected PiS government implement relocation mechanism of asylum-seekers. boli správne (2016). Pravda, 20 May. [online]. Available: expressed its full-fedged support to Hungary re- This amount of money is equal with the total amount of http://spravy.pravda.sk/domace/clanok/393716-kali- 1 Pavelková, Z. (2016). Can the Wizards and Witches Fix average Slovakian pension (414 euros) if the given per- nak-ukazuje-sa-ze-postoje-sr-k-migracnej-krize-bo- jecting propositions about any kind of voluntary or Slovak Asylum and Migration Policy? Visegrad Revue son would live 50 years longer then his or her retirement li-spravne/ [downloaded: 13 September 2016]. involuntary quotas that aimed to distribute refugees [online]. Available: http://visegradrevue.eu/can-the-wiz- age. 12 Less than 1000 people got refugee status in the Czech in member states. This common position is far from ards-and-witches-fx-slovak-asylum-and-migration-poli- 7 Je zjavné, že Slovensko nepodporí bruselský plán Republic one decade after the separation of Czechoslo- cy/ [downloaded: 12 September 2016]. being self-evident, while Hungary is the country na výkupné za utečencov (2016). Pravda, 4 May. vakia. 18.094 new asylum applications were submitted 2 Religious differences dominated the discourse on [online]. Available: http://europa.pravda.sk/aktuality/ in the peak year of 2001, but from the large number of that has been the most affected by the asylum in- migration as you can see the comments of Ivan Netik, clanok/392003-je-zjavne-ze-slovensko-nepodpori-bru- discontinued procedures we can presume that most of fow since 2015, the other V4 Countries had literally spokesperson of Slovak Interior Ministry: “Slovakia will selsky-plan-na-vykupne-za-utecencov/ [downloaded: the applicants left the country before they would have no experience with the phenomena previously. It accept migrants if they are Christians, he argued. Mus- 10 September 2016]. been recognised as refugees. lims should not come to Slovakia, because its Christian 8 13 remains a question for the future whether the pres- Mimovládky: Do integrácie utečencov treba viac Minister of Interior Milan Chovnec (CSSD) visited the society is not able and not willing to integrate them.” zapájať samosprávy (2016). Pravda, 7 May. [on- reception facility of Zastávka u Brna and Posrtona in ent cooperation will be a long-lasting one or not. 3 O’Grady, S. (2015). Slovakia to EU: We’ll take Migrants line]. Available: http://spravy.pravda.sk/domace/ Breclav. He highlighted that the Czech Republic is still We should also ask what the motivations are beyond if they are Christians, Foreign Policy [online]. Available: clanok/392372-mimovladky-do-integracie-utecen- a transit country for refugees, who want to reach Ger- their actions and how domestic politics infuence http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/19/slovakia-to-eu-well- cov-treba-viac-zapajat-samospravy/ [downloaded: 13 many. This whole phenomena can be understood from take-migrants-if-theyre-christians/ [downloaded: 19 their foreign policy behaviour. September 2016]. the point of view of security. This becomes clear if we September 2016]. 9 Tensions were growing at the Slovakian-Hungarian consider that Sobotka took part in the meeting of Na- 4 Pavelková, Z. (2016), p. 7. border in May 2016 after the Austrian border closure. tional Security Council right after these visits and argued Slovakia 5 Although only 15 from 150 persons were granted ref- In the area of Veľký Meder and Dunajská Streda the po- that the offce is going to deal with migration issues only. According to Prime Minister Robert Fico, 95% of ugee status, 12 procedures were discontinued and no- lice stopped four vehicles which were used to smuggle After a joint visit to the Zastávce refugee camp policy body got Slovak citizenship in 2016, 149 Christians from asylum seekers in Slovakia are economic migrants, Afghan and Syrian nationals, but one tried to escape, chief Tomas and PM Sobotka announced to detain all Iraq got subsidiary protection, which is a clear sign of therefore police shot its rear tires after multiple warning the people without residence permits and that this task whose presence is a threat to the welfare of fellow support towards Christians. shots. requires signifcant fnancial support and manpower.

52 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 53 help those in need, but warned that Czechs will newly arriving migrants from Greece to Turkey as that he is willing to support visa liberalisation only souvenir”.21 Before the Paris and Cologne attacks think of their own security frst. Without the major soon as possible. According to the statement of if Turkey complies with EU requirements. Marek Zeman’s position on arms possession was rather rethinking of the Schengen system, member states the ministerial cabinet, “the goal of the government Ženišek, leader of the opposition party TOP 09 negative and he was not fond of the idea to be able shall deal with the increasing pressure of migration is to reject any kind of proposal, which could result also shares this idea as he argued that one of to acquire guns freely in the Czech Republic, but on their own. According to Sobotka it is essential in legal obligations in terms of mandatory relocation the biggest mistakes of the EU during recent years after recent events he re-evaluated his position in to sign a good agreement with Turkey, to continue of asylum seekers or resettlement of refugees into was to forget to take seriously its own rules. If the that regard. talks on Syria and fght against ISIL.14 In the same other member states.”18 The EU-Turkey Joint Action EU allows visa free entry of Turkish citizens into the time the PM implied to continue the support of the Plan will be able to stop the uncontrolled movement EU without the fulflment of all the requirements by Poland Iraqi government and the Peshmerga forces, thereby of people and it helps the fght against smuggling Turkey, it would be the continuation of recent trends In the modern history of Poland the frst wave of giving the mandate to MoD Stropnicky (ANO) to networks. As a result of the agreement the num- of non-compliance.20 immigration (800 persons) originates from the time make plans for the future help for Kurds and Jorda- ber of arrivals dropped signifcantly and shifted In regards to refugees, President Miloš Zeman of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Back then the nian forces. Earlier the Czech Republic transport- again to the Central Mediterranean route stretching also raised his concerns from time to time since government established the plenipotentiary for ed arms and equipment to Peshmerga forces. Ús- from Libya to Italy. When expressing their opinion the beginning of the crisis. According to him it refugees and the Asylum Offce in the Ministry of vit (Dawn) leader Miroslav Lidinsky quoted some of on the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan, far-right extrem- would be necessary to expel every single irregular Interior on 27 September 1991.22 Although Poland the ISIL statements about sending more than 5000 ist Dawn- National Coalition party members (Ús- migrant in order to reduce the terror threat level in has been a transit rather than a destination coun- jihadist warriors to Europe, reminding that migration vit – Národní koalice) stressed how big a mistake the Czech Republic. It is easy to condemn the ter- try for immigrants, a signifcant amount of asylum and terrorism are interconnected.15 it would be, according to them, if the revision of rorist attacks in Paris and Brussels but it is hard to seekers (approx. 100.000 persons) crossed its Harassment of German women by young Muslim the accession talks would result in an agreement do something about it and get rid of the root caus- territory in the 1990s, while only a few hundred men in Cologne in December 2015 resulted again that would guarantee visa-free entrance of Turkish es. Czechs must arm in order to be able to defend applied for refugee status. Even after the EU in a heated debate about the cultural and religious citizens into the EU. It is a pact with the devil, thus themselves when the time comes. Furthermore, he accession, the amount of applications in Poland – differences of Muslims.16 PM Sobotka repeated his suggestions of the European Commission should suggested the strengthening of border control and a country with a population of 40 million – is only wish to strengthen European border control and be rejected and they called for a referendum on the building of physical barriers on the southern twice as much as in Slovakia.23 The exact number set up a common coast guard agency.17 this subject.19 border. Zeman highlighted that even the Prague of refugees was unknown as a significant num- In March 16 Twitter post of PM Sobotka highlighted The government rejects the quota proposals as Castle can be a potential target for terrorists, thus ber of foreigners living in the country, as well the Czech viewpoint about a deal with Turkey that well as the tentative plan to sanction each mem- he increases security measures in an amount of as in Warsaw, was unknown at that time. How- aimed to establish a mechanism in order to expel ber state with 250.000 euros per person fee, if it 100 million Czech koruna. These measures are ever, the political debates on migration arrived to does not want to comply with the relocation mech- required, according to him, due to the fact that a Poland too in 2015. The main reason of this was anism. Milan Chovanec, Minister of Interior argued signifcant amount of asylum seekers are jihadists. that the number of asylum seekers to be relocated 14 PM Sobotka argued that the EU requires a common that he does not see any good coming from such “The solution would be the readmission of those on the basis of the Council’s decision exceeded border control and coast guard unit, but he denied the proposals. “It changes nothing, while we cannot who do not have a real chance to acquire refugee 7000 persons, which was perceived as a relatively implementation of an anti-terrorism legislation and an account registry. According to Mezan Hassan, Syrian buy and sell human rights obligations as hu- status and as we all know this is true in the case of big number compared to the previous years when born Czech senator, solution for the crisis must be found mans cannot be looked upon as a burden or ex- many migrants.” Zeman would also expel Imams the Poles thought to be unaffected by migration. within Syria. changeable goods on a stock market.” Unoffcial who spread hatred in mosques. Concerning bor- The Polish parliamentary elections also infuenced 15 Sobotka: Junckerova slova o nezměněném přístupu reports revealed, Minister Chovanec asked for a der control he argued it would be important to build the public debate on the issues of immigration and k migraci zklamala (2015). České Noviny, November 15. [online]. Available: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpra- broad mandate from the PM to be able to reject a high-voltage electric fence in order to protect the asylum. vy/sobotka-junckerova-slova-o-nezmenenem-pristu- such quota proposals. In terms of the deal with Tur- law enforcement offcers, border guards and army According to Mariusz Błaszczak (PiS), Prime pu-k-migraci-zklamala/1281743 [downloaded: 10 Sep- key, which indeed reduced temporarily the arrival personnel. Repeating his former comment about Minister Kopacz (PO) behaved like a child in the tember 2016]. of new asylum seekers, PM Sobotka emphasised the need to arm Czech citizens he expressed that 16 Every Muslim criminal shall be expelled immediately stated PM Sobotka in a press conference in January. certain Czechs already possess small arms legally 21 Zeman: Czechs should arm themselves over threat of The results of events last week [in Cologne] revealed the and strict legal and practical procedure apply to terrorism. (2016), Radio.cz, 31 July. [online]. Available: security aspects of immigration. It is essential to insist 18 Sobotka má na summitu prosazovat rychlé vracení them. However, “these people better get used to http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/zeman-czechs- on the strengthening of border protection, while we en- migrantů z Řecka (2016), České Noviny, 16 March. the idea that they might have to shoot with their should-arm-themselves-over-threat-of-terrorism [down- sure effective protection for those who need it. However [online]. Available: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/ loaded: 19 October 2016]. those, who do not respect this generous offer and com- sobotka-ma-na-summitu-prosazovat-rychle-vraceni-mi- weapons instead of looking at it as a sort of 22 Chlebny, J. és Trojan, W. (2000). The refugee status mit different crimes in the host states, must be expelled grantu-z-recka/1327127 [downloaded: 10 September determination procedure in Poland, International Jour- from the territory of the European Union. 2016]. nal of Refugee Law, Vol. 12, No. 2, p. 213. 17 Sobotka: Uprchlíci páchající trestné činy mají být vy- 19 Sobotka: Česko nabízí Řecku azylové odborníky a 20 Sobotka: Turecko musí pro uvolnění vízového styku 23 United Nations High Commission for Refugees (2005) hoštěni z EU (2016), České Noviny, 8 January. [online]. policisty (2016), České Noviny, 22 May. [online]. Avail- splnit podmínky. (2016), Deník.cz, 3 May. [online]. Statistical Yearbook. Trends in Displacement, Protec- Available: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/sobot- able: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/sobotka-ces- Available: http://www.denik.cz/z_domova/sobotka-tu- tion and Solutions [online]. Available: http://www.unhcr. ka-uprchlici-pachajici-trestne-ciny-maji-byt-vyhoste- ko-nabizi-recku-azylove-odborniky-a-policisty/1329798 recko-musi-pro-uvolneni-vizoveho-styku-splnit-podmin- org/statistics/country/464478a72/unhcr-statistical-year- ni-z-eu/1300774 [downloaded: 10 September 2016]. [downloaded: 10 September 2016]. ky-20160503.html [downloaded: 10 September 2016]. book-2005.html [downloaded: 12 September 2016].

54 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 55 fog (dziecko we mgle) and rejected to give clear Eastern-Ukraine and Crimea. As a reaction Ms. Ewa The PiS party opposed the common EU solutions better more than the plan to impose a 250.000 fee answers on the exact number of people to be Piechota argued that PM Szydło overestimated the since the very beginning of its political campaign. as a sanction for each member state, that fails to relocated in Poland. “It is really a dangerous act in signifcance of the refugee issue in Poland, while it They rejected the plans due to the uncertainty comply with the relocation mechanism.29 Regard- such chaotic times,” he said. Answering a question is true that more than 500.000 foreign workers of the identity of asylum seekers. There is no evi- ing this topic, President Duda emphasised for the about who is going to pay the costs of relocation live in the country, the number of people who dence that they are people in need of protection Canadian magazine Maclean’s that Poland is able an MP from PO replied that the Polish government have acquired refugee status is less than a dozen. or jihadist warriors of ISIL. Due to the recent events and willing to integrate anybody who really needs is sure that the EU institutions are going to fnd Despite of this, PiS leaders are still talking about the new government rejected to implement the protection, but we should not forget that only a few the necessary budget for the tasks. In contrary, millions of refugees. Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii pledge of the former one. The focus is on the term people see Poland as a destination for international Mariusz Błaszczak expressed his concerns that Deshchytsia said that Ukrainian citizens are living recent events, which suggest that their actions protection. The Commission’s proposal to trans- the aforementioned people would like to reach in Poland only for employment reasons and stated are temporary. Currently we do not know on what fer people from one country to another by force Germany, where the multiculturalism has already that the resourceful Ukrainian workers helped to terms and conditions Poland would accept EU is inhuman and unacceptable. Hence Poland collapsed. He suggested that Poland should not increase the Polish GDP signifcantly.26 proposals. “Analysing the words they use, we can strongly rejects the plans to pay a 250.000 euro follow the bad example.24 Beside the problem of Ukrainian refugees, the conclude that until the point when the applicant fee for every single not-relocated asylum seeker. Although the new arrivals did not cause a major EU migration reform dominated the public discourse can prove that he or she is not a threat for national He repeated his words in Naples in June, where increase of the refugee population, the public since January 2016. The former PO government security they will not be allow to enter,” argued Ra- he stated that Poland is willing to help, but if discourse on immigration an asylum started to turn made a pledge to relocate 7000 people in the fał Bochenek, spokesperson of the Offce of PM. somebody would like to leave the country they will into a heated debate. Media all around the world framework of the EU emergency mechanism in a According to Jacek Sasis, PiS deputy leader, it is not detain them, because such imprisonment is in- echoed the words of President Duda about his JHA Council Decision in June 2016, which caused a huge question whether it will be ever possible to human and degrading.30 perceived or genuine obligation to defend citizens a heated debate. Jakub Kulesza, leader of the identify refugees with suffciently high level of cer- PiS deputy leader and Minister of Interior Mari- from reappearing illnesses like parasites and proto- movement, Stop the refugees, argued in favour of tainty. MEP Rafał Trzaskowski responded to these usz Błaszczak made a statement to TV24 in June, zoa carried by refugees. Furthermore, the leader of a prerogative that would determine which indi- remarks of the governing party that the Polish gov- when he praised his government which was able PiS party Jarosław Kaczyński stated that refugees viduals might enter the country. He started to gain ernments have in the past never represented such to defend Poland from terrorist attacks unlike its will carry already cured and eradicated diseases public support and called for a referendum on this a position that would endanger Polish citizens. On French counterpart. However, he noted that it is not into Europe, such as dysentery or typhus. Duda subject in Lublin on 25 January 2016. Kulesza as the other hand, he fnds the timing of PiS’s state- easy to handle the situation, because of the irre- reacted on Kaczyński’s remarks that the main task party member of Kukiz ’15 argued that they want to ments quite bad concerning the fact that in the sponsible pledges of the PO government. Several of the Polish government is to defend its people. call for a referendum about EU emergency relo- atmosphere of the Brussels terrorist attacks, such responses showed that the reality is that not only Duda’s position could be understood as a political cation mechanism, because people have the right comments will raise fear and anti-immigration sen- President Duda, but also Minister for Foreign Af- declaration to support PiS instead of the European to express their will, whether they want to accept timent across the country. PM Szydło initially prom- fairs Witold Waszczykowski expressed his willing- Council led by former PO President Donald Tusk. refugees or not. “Generally speaking, we do not ised to maintain the pledges made by the PO at the ness to help those, who need it, while PM Szydło Tusk however asked member states to seek for want refugees here,” added Wojciech Rowiński, frst place, but she changed her position in Janu- constantly evades to make her position clear. Al- solidarity and common solutions instead of building representative of National Movement (Ruch ary when she offered space for approximately 100 though she promised to let 100 refugees in, she fences.25 Narodowy). “We cannot let our country to become refugees, then argued in March that nobody will be altered her position only after a while.31 The visit of Newly elected Prime Minister Beata Szydło tried to a refugee camp,” stressed Kulesza and moved acknowledged as a refugee due to recent situation Pope Francis in Warsaw raised the tensions again, emphasise the difference between states fghting even further by saying “Poles have a long history and national security concerns. As the result of the while the Holy Father argued that it is the moral with the southern challenges (terrorism, failed- with Germans building camps in their country and JHA Council Meeting in June, Poland theoretical- responsibility of catholic states to help refugees. states and Muslim asylum seekers) and Poland, we all know how it ended”. This later reference that ly should relocate and resettle 7000 people. 1100 which helped refugees arriving from the war-torn mixed up Nazi crimes and the recent suggestions refugees shall be resettled and 5900 asylum seek- 29 of Chancellor Merkel shows how toxic the atmos- ers shall be included into the asylum procedure in Prezydent Duda za przyjmowaniem uchodźców, ale 27 pod pewnymi warunkami (2016), Nie Dla Islamizac- 24 Do Polski traf 12 tysięcy uchodźców? “Był kłopot, phere of the public debate about refugees is today. Poland on the basis of 22 September Council Deci- ji Europy, 16 May. [online]. Available: https://ndie.pl/ żeby z Donbasu przyjąć 200 osób” (2015) TVN24 [vid- sion, which was not vetoed by Warsaw.28 prezydent-duda-przyjmowaniem-uchodzcow-pewnymi- eo]. Available: http://www.tvn24.pl/wideo/z-anteny/ European Commission presented a rather infex- warunkami/ [downloaded: 10 September 2016]. 26 30 do-polski-traf-12-tysiecy-uchodzcow-byl-klopot-zeby- Co robią u nas Ukraińcy (2016), Dziennik Polski, 21 ible viewpoint on the matter and nothing shows this Prezydent Duda za przyjmowaniem uchodźców, ale z-donbasu-przyjac-200-osob,1459560.html?playlist_ January [online]. Available: http://www.dziennikpolski24. pod pewnymi warunkami (2016), Nie Dla Islamizac- id=20158 [downloaded: 10 September 2016]. pl/artykul/9312402,co-robia-u-nas-ukraincy,id,t.html ji Europy, 16 May. [online]. Available: https://ndie.pl/ 25 Prezydent Duda i “choroby uchodźców” na nagłówk- [downloaded: 12 September 2016]. prezydent-duda-przyjmowaniem-uchodzcow-pewnymi- ach światowych mediów. “Skojarzenia z retoryką na- 27 Akcja Stop uchodźcom w Lublinie: Nie chcą przyjąć 28 Szydło usztywnia stanowisko. Miało być 100 ucho- warunkami/ [downloaded: 10 September 2016]. zistowską” (2015), Wyborcza, 19 October [online]. imigrantów do Polski (2016), Kurier Lubelski, 25 Sep- dźców, nie będzie żadnego. (2016), Wiadomosci. 31 Fantazje Błaszczaka. PiS uratowało Polskę przed Available: http://wyborcza.pl/1,75399,19044509,duda- tember [online]. Available: http://www.kurierlubelski. pl, 24 March. [online]. Available: http://wiadomosci. uchodźcami (2016), Ośrodek Kontroli Obywatelskiej, i-choroby-uchodzcow-na-naglowkach-swiatowych- pl/aktualnosci/art/9328008,akcja-stop-uchodzcom-w- dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/516410,beata-szydlo-rzad- 18 July. [online]. Available: https://oko.press/fantazje- mediow.html?disableRedirects=true [downloaded: 12 lublinie-nie-chca-przyjac-imigrantow-do-polski,id,t.html pis-uchodzcy-imigranci-stanowisko-zamachy-bruksela- blaszczaka-pis-uratowalo-polske-uchodzcami/ [down- September 2016]. [downloaded: 13 September 2016]. belgia.html [downloaded: 13 September 2016]. loaded: 12 September 2016].

56 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 57 PM Szydło told that Warsaw supports all initiatives, result in a trend of renationalisation. From the which can help those who are suffering, thus they viewpoint of domestic politics, we can see that ex- welcome the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan in order tremist movements and the governmental reactions to solve the Syrian refugee crisis. Furthermore, she on these matters infuenced the political debate, reminded that Ukrainians continuously welcome thereby assisting in the creation of an anti-immi- to live in Poland. On the columns of Süddeutsche gration sentiment. Instead of a deeper European Zeitung Florian Hassal evaluated the remarks of cooperation, these countries prefer to invoke the Pope Francis as too liberal for most of the Poles. principle of subsidiarity and want to return to the “Muslims in Poland: It is the apocalypse,” Hassal traditional understanding of nation-states’ Europe. concluded.32 It also does not help that Common European Asy- lum System had been formulated without the active Conclusion participation of the V4 Countries since the adoption Tension around asylum and immigration has grown of the Dublin Convention in 1999, while the V4 can in all of the Visegrad states since 2015. Far-right feel as if it does not have its own voice that can be movements appeared in all countries and tried to heard, although they are in the centre of Europe. gain advantage and political capital from the The relative passivity of the V4 towards questions situation. We can say that these movements are related to asylum has changed after 2015 and the not popular enough to be considered a possible plans of the European Commission raised serious governing force in any of these countries, however, concerns. It is a question for the future whether the their statements and arguments naturally infu- V4 will be able to create proactive recommenda- ence the public debate. It is common sense in the tions or will just maintain its rejecting position. The region that refugees with different religious beliefs frst positive step to a common solution has been and culture have to integrate into Eastern European the support of the EU-Turkey Joint Action plan by societies. While most of the asylum seekers do not Poland, while in the Czech Republic, as well as in have the intention to have a permanent resi- Slovakia, there are several parties that reject the dence here, thus all V4 Countries reject the idea of enablement of visa-free entry of Turkish citizens a quota system and the relocation of people from into the EU. Governments still frmly maintain their Western countries to the CEE region. However, if positions and support this initiative. Hopefully, on we look closer we can fnd differences in the terms the long term it will bring some results and will lead of the exact contents of this rejection. Poland did to the creation of a proper solution. not veto the decision on the relocation mechanism on 22 September during the JHA Council Meeting, while the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia (and also Romania) did. Warsaw made pledges to implement the decision. However, the new gov- ernment tried to alter its position. It is a common feature of their foreign policy that they stress the need for the protection of their own citizens from terrorism and public health risks that – according to them – can be caused by uncontrolled immigration. In contrast to Western societies, national identity is essential to V4 societies, but it does not necessarily

32 Beata Szydło odniosła się do słów Franciszka o uchodźcach (2016), Wiadomosci, 30 July. [on- line]. Available: http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1329,ti- Written by tle,Beata-Szydlo-odniosla-sie-do-slow-Francisz- Péter Stepper ka-o-uchodzcach,wid,18447327,wiadomosc. html?ticaid=117ed9 [downloaded: 13 September 2016]. International Relations Manager AJKC

58 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 59 6 THE ANTALL JÓZSEF KNOWLEDGE CENTRE English welfare state are also referenced. The au- optimistic about dealing with them. Micklethwait thors compare the Ronald Reagan and Margaret and Wooldridge then continues by comparing the Thatcher administrations as well with the thoughts “Californian Dream” with Lee Kuan Yew’s regime BOOK REVIEW of George Friedman, while also analysing their in Singapore. During his time in offce, the state most important components. Moreover, they give had such a dramatic improvement that we could The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent In the frst part of the book, the authors provide lay an account of how these “revolutions” contributed almost question the effciency of popular sover- the State by John Micklethwait and Adrian with a concise and relevant political and philosoph- to the development of the state (structure) many of eignty. In addition, they describe the past and Wooldridge ical background. They introduce Thomas Hobbes, us now live in. present of ’s irregular tax, education, and The heated debates of the followers of clashing who described the foundations of a modern state After an overview of the social and historical healthcare system, where they managed to create ideologies might be in vain, as if we look at various in his book Leviathan. The “modern state” as de- background, through presenting the frst three and competition-based systems, which, after years of domestic political structures, be it a night-watch- picted by Hobbes is different from the modern un- a half revolutions, the writers show how Western fne tuning, now seem to work more effectively than man state or a big government, democratic or au- derstanding of democratic states, but what made states fail, using California as an example. The au- that of other European countries. Then the authors thoritarian, we may observe that problems deriving his book a must-read in political philosophy is how thors explain that, despite the conspicuous past ponder about why multinational corporations are from structural malfunctions are omnipresent. De- he emphasised the signifcance of social contract and present successes of the state, “behind the proportionally more successful than countries. Us- spite the seeming consensus about the superiority in creating a functional state. According to Mick- scenes” they struggle with severe issues includ- ing all these examples, they try to conclude that of some elements of “Western-style” politics, in- lethwait and Wooldridge, the institution of social ing political corruption, the stalling infrastructure, both political science and politics should catch up cluding democracy and capitalism, the authors of contract moulding into the European machinery of or the radicalisation of party politics. Even though with technological developments. Furthermore, the book entitled The Fourth Revolution: The Global government gave the advantage of Western coun- the state seems to not intervene in the everyday they suggest that political scientists and politicians Race to Reinvent the State, John Micklethwait and tries over their competitors. (The European states lives of the inhabitants, in practice their legisla- should rethink how effectively politics is ’done,’ as Adrian Wooldridge, set the goal of presenting the created a balance, which enabled them to enforce tion implies a “nanny-state” behaviour. This turns old and known ways are not necessarily leading concealed glitches of the Western political system, laws and at the same time give enough freedom the seemingly happy population into less-coop- towards improvement. while also aiming to offer solutions to these weak- to their people that resulted in the people’s con- erative sceptics, which makes development more This book would be instructive to all interested in nesses, some of which in fact are already imple- tributions to their advancement). The book also diffcult. Besides the above-mentioned problems, the operation of a state, as well as those who are mented in alternative state organisations. Contrast- contains references to the famous liberal, John the authors identify “sins” such as the overarching keen on looking at potential solutions for the glitch- ing these alternative systems with Western liberal Stuart Mill, and the ways in which he tried to fur- state, the confused government balance sheet, es these states possess. It is also a good read for democracies, the writers provide a comprehensive ther improve this state by maximising the liberty the lack of programmes to help the poor, as well people who fnd out-of-the-box thinking in regards picture of the progress of the organisation of the of the dwellers. Moreover, the Webbs, especially as political paralysis. The state itself has realised to politics appealing. state in the past and the years to come. Beatrice Webb, and their endeavours to create the the existence of these problems and they are quite Written by Boglárka Antall, intern, AJKC

60 AJKC AJKC 61 Our institution is structured into four internation- Knowledge Centre was established. The bust of THE ANTALL JÓZSEF KNOWLEDGE CENTRE al offces—dealing with the V4 and the CEI re- Prime Minister József Antall was inaugurated in gion, the EU, the USA, and Asia and Africa—two the József Antall Building of the European Parlia- The Antall József Knowledge Centre (AJKC) in Hungary, during its six years of existence, has introduced thematic offces focusing on security policy and ment on 31 March 2015 as part of the frst in- a variety of events targeting Hungarian students enrolled in higher education, as well as domestic sustainable development, two regional offces in stalment of the Variations on Europe conference and international professional audiences. The Knowledge Centre’s main objectives, in line with the Pécs and Győr, as well as the Brussels Offce, series, which continued in May and September. Antall philosophy, are talent management and providing students and young professionals with all of which are working toward strengthening The stances of the V4 countries with regard to wide-ranging practical knowledge through various events. Having six years of experience in the feld, institutional relations both at the national and in- the migration crisis were tackled during a con- the Knowledge Centre aims to become a regionally relevant think tank that is “unavoidable” when it ternational level, developing scholarship and in- ference held in autumn 2015. The well-received comes to certain issues such as the Visegrad Cooperation, the future global role of the US, China, ternship programmes, and boosting professional Schengen 2.0—Saving Schengen conference and Russia, security policy, sustainable development, as well as technological and social innovation. cooperation via international conferences, work- was realised in June 2016, while a conference shops, and event series. revolving around European responses to terrorist True to its namesake, the Antall József Knowledge attacks was held in September 2016. The latter Centre places special emphasis on the issues of was organised in cooperation with the Egmont Hungarians from beyond the borders, the Visegrad Institute and the Wilfried Martens Centre for Eu- Cooperation, European integration, and Atlanticism. ropean Studies. The Knowledge Centre is independent of parties, Our newest and largest event is think.BDPST. therefore it does not deal with contemporary Organised by the Antall József Knowledge Centre Hungarian domestic politics, but always strives in strategic partnership with the Ministry of For- to remain up-to-date in global affairs. The key eign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, the National questions of the 21st century, foreign and security Research, Development and Innovation Offce of policy, sustainable development, and techno- Hungary, the Hungarian Investment Promotion logical innovation are all emphasised during the Agency (HIPA), and the Institute for Foreign Affairs planning of long-term programmes and in our and Trade of Hungary, with the support of the research activities. International Visegrad Fund and MVM the Hungar- The Knowledge Centre’s publishing office re- ian Electricity Ltd, the frst instalment of Hungary’s leases works on political and social sciences in strategic conference took place on 8-10 March 2016. Hungarian, thereby conveying the messages of The main aim of the think.BDPST project, the the greatest thinkers and public figures of the focus of which is innovation, new technologies, world. and regional development, is to put Hungary The publishing activities of AJKC involve releasing on the map of large-scale regional conferences professional publications, scientifc works on politi- such as GLOBSEC, Krynica Economic Forum, cal and social sciences (with special regard to and the Prague European Summit, by organising security policy and international relations), as the most signifcant innovation forum in the region, well as university textbooks. thereby facilitating a dialogue between the rep- In our autobiographical series, prominent per- resentatives of the economic, governmental, and sonalities of the Cold War period, including Ron- scientifc spheres. ald Reagan, George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, The 2017 event of think.BDPST, to be held on and Helmut Kohl recount crucial years and deci- 29-31 March, will concentrate on technological sions still affecting their lives. and social innovation, with special regard to their Reacting to signifcant events of political, social, impact on education and professions, as well as and economic signifcance in the 21st century, the future of medicine and the pharmaceutical the professional publications series of the Knowl- industry. edge Centre is made up of works incorporating In addition to innovation, the Knowledge Centre the latest results of international relations and puts special emphasis on sustainable develop- geopolitics, the history of politics, economics, ment. The third event of the SUSCO Budapest and psychology. conference series was held on 16 November In spring 2015, the Brussels Offce of the 2016. The previous two instalments focused on

62 AJKC AJKC 63 sustainable development in general and the sus- of those who made lasting contributions to the tainable development goals (SDGs) developed advancement of Hungary. In 2014, HE Roman by the United Nations, as well as smart cities and Kowalski, Polish Ambassador to Hungary, was sustainable transportation. This year, the topic of presented with the Antall Award for his extraor- water and the city constituted the main theme of dinary efforts in deepening Polish–Hungarian the conference. relations. The annual Foreign and Security Policy Con- Just like for late Prime Minister, transborder ference invites national and international experts Hungarians constitute a priority for the Knowl- to discuss global security policy challenges. The edge Centre. Therefore, our institution takes part frst conference revolved around the new world in the Bálványos Free University every year with order, the second around the relationship of the programmes and provides internship opportuni- US and Russia, while the third analysed the sit- ties for minority-status Hungarians. uation in Turkey. The most popular programme The objectives of the Knowledge Centre in- series of the Knowledge Centre, Foreign and Se- clude talent management and the establishment curity Policy First-hand, in turn, provides a plat- of higher education network. For these purpos- form to examine current issues within the feld of es, AJKC organises the annual Danube Regat- security policy. Topics covered in autumn 2016 ta. The number of participating universities has include old and new forms of terrorism, the rela- grown year after year since its inception: in 2016, tionship between the Olympic Games and poli- teams from 16 Hungarian and two British univer- tics, as well as the arms race in the South China sities, Oxford and Cambridge, competed against Sea. each other in rowing eights and dragon boat rac- In 2016, the Knowledge Centre organised the es. Other aims of the Regatta include encourag- fourth Antall József Summer School. Every year, ing a diverse use of the Danube and improving 40-50 students from more than 20 countries en- the image of Hungary. SAVE THE DATE rolled in different MA and PhD programmes par- ticipate in the two-week event, the aim of which is to strengthen and render the Visegrad Coop- eration more visible in the feld of education. The Antall József Summer School provides those 2017 interested in Central European studies with the 29-31 MARCH opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the V4 HUNGARY region and Hungary. BÁLNA BUDAPEST, Our commitment to rendering the Visegrad Cooperation more visible is further evidenced by the establishment of the Visegrád Bridge Award. The Knowledge Centre and the International Visegrad Fund established the Award on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the regime changes of the region to recognise the endeav- ours of those who have persistently advocated the cause of the Visegrad Cooperation in the felds of politics, economy, and diplomacy. The award was frst conferred upon Lech Wałęsa, former President of the Republic of Poland and one of the founders of the Visegrad Cooperation. Meanwhile, with the Antall Award, yet another decoration established by our institution, the Knowledge Centre acknowledges the activities

64 AJKC 65 THE ANTALL JÓZSEF SUMMER SCHOOL

The Antall József Summer School was launched very frst meeting of the Cooperation was held in 2013 with the aim of strengthening the Visegrad there in 1991 upon József Antall’s initiation. Cooperation and rendering it more visible also The 2016 Antall József Summer School revolv- in the feld of education. In accordance with the ing around the 25th anniversary of the formation Antall tradition, we fnd it of crucial importance to of the Visegrad Cooperation was held on 4-15 emphasise that, by joining forces, the Visegrad July. The main patrons of the event were the for- Countries are able to more effectively promote eign ministers of the Visegrad Region: HE Mi- their interests both on the political and economic roslav Lajčák of the Slovak Republic, HE Péter level. It is a vital part of promoting the Antall tradition Szijjártó of Hungary, HE Witold Waszczykowski to properly educate and disseminate information of the Republic of Poland, and HE Lubomír among the young generation – which are the prin- Zaorálek of the Czech Republic. ciples behind establishing the Summer School. The opening ceremony of the fourth instalment Each year, 50 students (selected upon criteria of the Summer School, held in the Grand Hall such as motivation, degree of interest taken in of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, featured the V4, as well as professional and educational speeches by Péter Antall, Director of the Antall background) are admitted into the two-week József Knowledge Centre; Dr László Szabó, Deputy educational programme. Not only is the high Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade number of applications, many times the number of Hungary; and Frank Spengler, Resident Rep- of places available, indicative of the growing resentative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in signifcance of the Visegrad Cooperation, but Hungary. The speakers of the follow-up roundta- the diversity of the participants too as there ble discussion focusing on the perspectives have been students of American, Costa Rican, of the Visegrad Cooperation after 25 years in- Japanese, Qatari, Chinese, Kuwaiti, Russian, cluded Hanna Suchocka, former Prime Minister and Italian origin present at four instalments of of the Republic of Poland; Mikuláš Dzurinda, the Summer School. former Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic; Kar- At the event, issues most relevant to the region el Schwarzenberg, former Minister of Foreign are discussed from various aspects including Affairs of the Czech Republic; and Dr János history, economy, fnancial policy, foreign and Martonyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of security policy, energy policy, innovation, tour- Hungary. Moderation was provided by Dr Géza ism, culture, and the question of sustainability, Jeszenszky, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the thereby providing a comprehensive picture on Antall government. the Cooperation. The high degree of interest Partners and supporters of the 2016 event includ- students take in the topics at hand can be deducted ed: the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Hungary, from the number of questions asked and the active the Public Diplomacy Division of NATO, the Em- participation in the discussions after the lectures. It bassy of the Republic of Poland in Budapest, is a great honour for the Knowledge Centre to have Budapest Waterworks, MOL, the Slovak Secu- welcomed many dignities, professors, and experts rity Policy Institute, EUROPEUM – Institute for during the four years of the Summer School’s European Policy, the Institute for Foreign Affairs existence. and Trade Hungary, and the Hungarian gaming In addition to the various educational pro- service provider Szerencsejáték Zrt. grammes, students take part in cultural events that serve the purpose of facilitating intercultur- al dialogue. They have the opportunity to visit the House of Terror Museum and the Palace of Visegrád, which has a historic relevance, as the

66 THE AJKC 67 ANTALL JÓZSEF KNOWLEDGE CENTRE In autumn 2016, two conferences were devoted to discussing sustainability. SUSCO Budapest 2016 – Water and the City, the continuation of AJKC’s conference series on sustainable development organ- ACADEMIC YEAR 2016-2017 ised in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Hungary, focused on sustainable urban water management, refecting upon the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. The conference organised in cooperation with the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies entitled The Visit of Dr Erwin Teufel at the Knowledge Centre Cleantech Conference: China - EU towards Sustainable, Clean Energy in turn revolved around clean 15 September 2016 energy development in China and the European Union from the policy and business perspective. Dr Erwin Teufel, Former Prime Minister of Baden-Wüttemberg, visited the Budapest Offce of the Antall József Knowledge Centre during his stay in Hungary. At the meeting, the main activities of the Budapest American Studies Forum Knowledge Centre were presented, with special regard to its research profle, as well as its efforts and Road to the White House concentrated on becoming one of the most infuential think tanks of the region. The former prime minister commended these endeavours and offered assistance in realising German-related activities. 29-30 November - 1 December 2016 Dr Teufel praised József Antall, the namesake of the institution, and welcomed the operation of a In the second half of the autumn semester, foundation fostering the Antall tradition. we took a closer look at the US elections. The Knowledge Centre welcomed 20 students from East-Central Europe at the frst instalment of the 3 Months after Brexit Budapest American Studies Forum encouraging 20 September 2016 them to share their opinion about the 2016 US Featuring His Excellency Iain Lindsay, Ambassador presidential elections, while the How the White of the United Kingdom to Hungary, Ferenc Hörcher, House Was Won roundtable discussion aimed Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the Hun- to draw appropriate conclusions. Speakers of the garian Academy of Sciences and Tamás Péter latter included journalist Elizabeth Wahl; J.D. Gordon, Baranyi, Head of Research at the Antall József Director of National Security for the Trump campaign; and Zsolt Németh, Chairperson of the Hungarian Knowledge Centre, the roundtable discussion National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee. The talk was moderated by journalist Adam LeBor. held in the lecture hall of the Knowledge Centre evaluated the Brexit. Topics covered during the NATO’s Strategic Adaptation to talk include the events of the three months after the vote, the change of prime ministers, the expected the New Security Environment – date of the exit, and the impact of the referendum Enhancing Europe’s Defence on Scotland. 2 December 2016 One of this year’s most exclusive security policy SUSCO Budapest 2016 – Water and the City and Cleantech Confer- conference in Hungary offered unique insight into ence: China-EU towards Sustainable, Clean Energy the future of European security. The changing of the guard in Washington, the increasing Eastern and 16-17 November 2016 Southern challenges breed a new security envi- ronment. Therefore, the three-panel event focused on topics such as the possible response of the North Atlantic alliance, the Trump presidency, the exact defnition of the information warfare in Europe, or the adaptability of a post-Brexit European defence strategy. The conference featured Ian Brzezinski, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council of the United States; Paul King, Editor-in-Chief, NATO Review and NATO.tv; J.D. Gordon, Director of National Security for the Trump campaign; and Levente Benkő, Deputy State Secretary for Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary.

68 AJKC AJKC 69 BRUSSELS OFFICE AJKC FUTURE EVENTS

Challenges in the Age of Terror: think.BDPST 2017 – Counter-Terrorism Agenda for Connect to the Future and Europe - 26 September 2016 Young Leaders’ Forum SAVE THE DATE 29-31 March 2017 Organised in cooperation with the Egmont Institute 29-31 MARCH 2017 BÁLNA BUDAPEST, HUNGARY for International Relations and the Wilfried Martens Hungary’s strategic conference on regional de- Centre for European Studies, the conference fo- velopment and the new perspectives of research, cused on the most important features of the current innovation, and future technologies returns in 2017. wave of terrorist attacks tormenting the states of With the second instalment of think.BDPST, our the European Union. The guest speakers discussed aim is to narrow the scope of topics under discus- the possible policy steps EU organisations and sion and go deeper into exploring specifc areas of social innovation and future technologies such as member states should implement to counter this employment, education, healthcare, and medicine. A side event of think.BDPST is the Young Leaders’ lasting danger. Forum which features outstanding young professionals (aged 24-38), soon to become important actors and decision-makers in the feld of innovation, political and social sciences, as well as healthcare. Registra- Informal Meeting of Directors of tion is open. For further information, please visit think.bdpst.org. V4 Think Tanks - 12 October 2016 Danube Regatta – 6 May 2017

In addition to providing think tanks with the oppor- tunity to introduce their mission and priorities, The 2017 event of the Danube Regatta, Hungary’s the aim of the event was to identify possible ways biggest cultural, music, and sporting event, as well of cooperation, thereby creating a common platform as an international rowing and dragon boat com- for think tanks focusing on the Central and Eastern petition between universities, will be organised European region. on 6 May 2017. Eighteen teams from national and international universities will come to Hungary to face off against each other on the most beautiful stretch of the Danube. Come to Műegyetem rakpart and encourage your favourite team. For further information, please visit dunairegatta.hu. Present Day Challenges of the CEE Region – The Future Perspective of the Visegrad Cooperation - 14 November 2016 Antall József Summer School 2017 – 4-13 July 2017 To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the forma- tion of the Visegrad Cooperation, the Knowledge Centre, in cooperation with the Wilfried Martens 2017 is a special year for the European Union as th Centre for European Studies, organised a roundtable it marks the 60 anniversary of the signing of the th discussion which aimed to discuss questions Treaty of Rome, the 25 of the Treaty of Maastricht, defning the present of the cooperation, identify and the 10th of the Treaty of Lisbon. Therefore, the issues that the V4 countries should focus on in the 2017 Antall József Summer School will mainly focus future, as well as examine and evaluate the Co- on the examination of the Visegrad Countries’ operation from a European perspective. Speakers position within the European Union. In addition, of the roundtable included the most notable experts community-building activities are an integral part of this year’s programme and the creation of an on international relations, EU common policies, and AJSS Alumni Society is an additional important aspect in 2017, as the Summer School was launched economics. exactly fve years ago. Application to AJSS 2017 will open on 1 February 2017.

70 AJKC AJKC 71 THE PUBLISHING OFFICE OF THE KNOWLEDGE CENTRE AUTOBIO- The autobiographical series, launched in 2014, includes the memoirs and GRAPHICAL autobiographies of renowed political advisors, and dignitaries. The frst vol- ume in the series is Vom Mauerfall zur Wiedervereinigung (From the fall of the The Antall József Knowledge Centre’s publishing offce releases professional publications, scientifc SERIES Wall to Reunifcation) by Helmut Kohl, which was accompanied by the 2016 re- works on political and social sciences, with special regard to security policy and international relations, lease of his essay entitled Aus Sorge um Europe – Ein Appel (Worrying about as well as university textbooks. Europe – An Appeal) In autumn 2013, the Knowledge Centre’s publishing offce started operating with the aim of making available professional publications higher education in Hungary is lacking. Authors, translators, Hans-Gert Pöttering: United for the Better and proofreaders involved in the publishing activities of the Knowledge Centre include the instructors (Release Date: 2016) and professors of Hungary’s greatest universities.

Dr Hans-Gert Pöttering is one of the key fgures of European unifcation, GUIDEBOOK The frst volume in the original guidebook series of AJKC on Hungarian who served as Member of the European Parliament and later as its President all the while working towards integration and building a political community SERIES memories in foreign countries is entitled Hungarian Memories in the Czech Republic. The next volume to be released in 2017 will explore Poland, while uniting all of Europe. also offering miscellaneous historical facts about the centuries-old friendship between Poles and Hungarians.

János Kokes: Hungarian Memories in the Czech Republic (Release Date: 2015)

When crossing the Slovak-Czech border, few realise that they in fact pass PROFESSIONAL Reacting to events of political, social, and economic signifcance in the 21st century, the professional publications series of the Knowledge Centre is through the historic Hungarian-Czech borders between the Kingdom of PUBLICATIONS Hungary and the Kingdom of Bohemia. The unusual guidebook offers a made up of works incorporating the latest results of international relations review of the common history of Hungary and the Czech Republic, then and geopolitics, the history of politics, economics, and psychology. guides the reader through seven regions while recounting the story of each Czech city, building, and location with Hungarian memories. The volume was written by János Kokes, local journalist of the Hungarian Telegraph Ahmet Davutoğlu: Strategic Depths Agency (MTI) living in Prague. Photo credit goes to Hungarian photographer (Release Date: 2016) Csaba Gedai. Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu offers a look at international TEXTBOOK Refecting the changes and new trends in the realm of international relations relations and geopolitics in the 21st century from a new perspective: that of a and security policy, our textbook series on political and social sciences includes state which is gradually becoming a key actor of these processes. SERIES books supplementing the primary source materials of universities. The latest piece released in the series focuses on intelligence, while the next volume to be published, entitled The CRC Press Terrorism Reader. revolves around terrorism.

Marie-Helen Maras: The CRS Press Terrorism Reader (Release Date: 2016)

Terrorism is a global challenge. It does not take into account borders, gender, NEW RELEASE Condoleezza Rice: No Higher Honor age, religion, or culture, while on the other hand it changes constantly. Terrorists Tamás Péter Baranyi - Kinga Szálkai: The Emerging Crescent are often faceless, ruthless and mostly mislead people. With the help of the Roland Dannreuther: International Security newest theoretical and practical research results and her vast personal experi- Mark Lowenthal: Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy ence, the author analyses this phenomenon with academic thoroughness in a Richard Susskind - Daniel Susskind: The Future of the Professions textbook format that is also interesting to read. The book offers insight into the Carl J. Jensen, David Hughes McElreath, Melissa Graves: inner world of terrorist organisations and the working methods of the most Introduction to Intelligence Studies experienced anti-terrorism government agencies.

72 AJKC AJKC 73 NEXT ISSUES Mexico. The country, which is situated in the conjunction of three continents, was also living The next issues of In Focus, to be released in the under regional boycott. However, with the grad- frst quarter of 2017, will revolve around the State of ual expansion of its diplomatic relations and the Israel, the United States of America, and France. continuous merging of its interests with the Arab In addition to highlighting their political, economic, states, it has become a signifcant actor in the social, and cultural relations, issues examining the Middle Eastern balance of power, on its own latter two of the countries indicated above will pay right, not only as an ally of the United States. special attention to the presidential elections and 2016 marks the 120th anniversary of the publishing Contact Information their evaluation. of The Jewish State written by Theodor Herzl, born in Pest, Kingdom of Hungary, a book which laid Antall József Knowledge Centre of Political and Social Sciences ISRAEL IN FOCUS down the state ideological foundations of the Address: 4-6 Közraktár Street, H-1093 Budapest modern State of Israel. This anniversary provides Web: www.ajtk.hu/en an opportunity to consider the role Israel plays in Telephone: +36 20 310 87 76 E-mail: [email protected] the regional and global politics. We are undertaking this task in an era which can be characterised Imprint by the raging conflict in the Middle East affect- Publisher: Péter Antall, Director ing the security of the European Union and Hunga- ry, while we must not forget that our South Eastern Editor-in-Chief: Ádám Kégler, Deputy Director for International Affairs, Antall József Knowledge Centre (AJKC) neighbourhood also provides supreme economic opportunities for us. Authors: Liliana Guevara Opinska, AJSS alumnus; Dr Géza In the next issue of In Focus, we are looking Jeszenszky, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Hungary; Erika beyond widely held views on Israel aiming to present Kovácsová, AJSS alumnus; Małgorzata Śliwa, AJSS alumnus; the lesser understood, internal, as well as external Sylvie Wagnerová, AJSS alumnus processes shaping this unique state. We will Authors – AJKC: Boglárka Antall; Eszter Árkos; Tamás Péter provide a profound analysis of the system of Baranyi; Kitti Bocskor; Zsolt Csepregi; Péter Dobrowiecki; Anikó Israeli politics, society, and economy to explain the Gorácz; Péter Stepper; Eszter Szántó; Dr Boglárka Szert; Ágnes important contradictions and questions regarding Vass the particular regional and global role of the Contributors: Veronika Antall-Horváth; Tjaša Feher; Mónika Jewish state. As the Antall József Knowledge Horváth; Henrietta Magyar Centre’s main focus is on foreign affairs, our next Proofreaders: Mónika Horváth; Tamás Péter Baranyi; Péter issue will present Israel’s international relations Dobrowiecki; Zsolt Pálmai through the insights of diplomats and experts from Hungary and Israel. Cover and Graphic Design, Pre-press Preparation: Gergely Kiss Cover Picture: The Signature of the Founders of the Visegrad Cooperation (From top to bottom: Lech Wałęsa, President of the Republic of Poland; Václav Havel, President of the Czechoslovak Everyone makes different associations when Republic; and József Antall, Prime Minister of the Republic of thinking about the State of Israel: the three Hungary) monotheistic world religions, armed confict and technological innovation, the Mediterra- Photo Credit: AJKC, Dávid Biró, Ádám Polhodzik, Shutterstock nean Sea and the vast desert which has been made fertile. Israel is also a land of contradictions: Issues of In Focus are available on the it has a territory four times smaller than Hungary, webpage of the Knowledge Centre, www. but it is also a leading military power in the World; ajtk.hu. Please kindly note that In Focus while it is a prominent technological and eco- can be downloaded free of charge but nomic player on a global scale, at the same registration on the webpage is required. time, the gap between the rich and poor is the widest among OECD member countries after

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