Zapraszamy do udziału w konferencji Ośrodka Myśli Politycznej i Instytutu Nauk Politycznych i Stosunków Międzynarodowych UJ "Collaboration Between Visegrád Group Countries and their Place in the European Union". Odbędzie się ona 15 października w Krakowie, w Sali Senackiej Collegium Novum, między 11.00 a 17.00. Z uwagi na międzynarodowy charakter spotkania i udział gości z krajów środkowoeuropejskich, językiem konferencyjnym będzie angielski.

Zgłoszenia do udziału - bezpłatnego - przyjmujemy do 8 października, pocztą elektroniczną (omp@omp.org.pl, tytuł wiadomości: Europa Środkowa) lub na Facebooku - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=274464005914263. Liczba miejsc jest ograniczona, zatem o przyjęciu zgłoszeń zadecyduje ich kolejność.

Projekt zrealizowano przy udziale finansowym Gminy Miejskiej Kraków – www.krakow.pl

International Conference

"Collaboration Between Visegrád Group Countries and their Place in the European Union"

Kraków, October 2011

Idea

In May 2004, Visegrád Group countries joined the EU after having become NATO members in 1999 and 2004. In this way, the strategic objectives of the Visegrád states’ diplomacies that had been set upon the collapse of communist regimes were achieved. Alongside success, the need to redefine strategic foreign policy objectives in the new external environment emerged. The entry into Euro-Atlantic structures gave all four countries new powerful tools to conduct their diplomacy and to influence the development of the EU and NATO themselves. At the same time, the consensus concerning foreign policy directions that had existed until that time on the internal political scenes of Visegrád countries disappeared. The emergence of divergent opinions concerning not only the tactics but also the very strategy of diplomacy has been a new phenomenon in the politics of Central European states.

The period from 2006 to 2010 was a time of fundamental shifts on the political scenes of Visegrád Group (V4) countries. Radical and sometimes unexpected changes in ruling coalitions occurred in all these countries as a result of elections. In the context of the foreign policy pursued by previous governments, these changes potentially signified important turning points in foreign policy trends as well. It is possible that the policy towards the Central and East European region, particularly as a dimension of European policy, was especially susceptible to the new impulses, since previous coalitions had not considered this foreign policy direction a priority. The purpose of the conference is to confront these expectations with the realities of the policies pursued by the new coalitions, to point out their opportunities and limitations and to provide practical recommendations on how to develop political collaboration in Central and Eastern Europe.

Objectives

The conference is to define the place of the region’s countries in the EU and their contribution to shaping its policies in two basic dimensions:

– their current positions in Community structures related to the potential they have and the degree to which they utilise it (e.g. as a result of defining their national interests in a certain manner or depending on the political will to articulate these interests in a subjective manner but also on the efficiency of pursuing them in practical terms);

– and their future positions within the EU if certain scenarios concerning changes in the political order within the Union come to pass (resulting e.g. from the possible implementation of projects aimed at the closer integration of euro zone countries).

Conference participants will also answer the questions whether the possible collaboration between V4 countries on the EU forum can significantly strengthen their positions within Community structures, and if so, how they should pursue this goal, but also whether the manner in which the governments of individual states in the region currently define their interests within the framework of the EU and in their mutual relations is conducive to the implementation of a project aimed at closer collaboration with respect to European policy.

The conference also aims to capture the impact of internal policy, and particularly shifts in ruling coalitions, on foreign policy in Visegrád Group countries. A preliminary hypothesis states that in view of the poorly developed bureaucracy that manages foreign policy (compared to Germany, France or the United Kingdom), a change of government potentially equates to a shift in foreign policy priorities. Policy vis-à-vis Central and Eastern Europe, and especially the European policy collaboration between V4 countries appears to be a particularly useful area in which to validate this hypothesis, since this collaboration has been present in the verbal declarations concerning policy agenda of all governments to date. Therefore the conference aims, albeit indirectly, to answer the question why this is a real priority for some governments and not for others.

Moreover, the conference is designed to inspire cooperation between think-tanks and academic political science institutions in Visegrád Group countries.

Issues / Research Questions

1. How are foreign policy priorities shaped in individual V4 countries?
2. What is the role of bureaucracy in shaping and implementing foreign policy in V4 countries?
3. What is the role of political parties in shaping and implementing foreign policy in V4 countries?
4. What is the role of the media and public opinion in shaping and implementing foreign policy in V4 countries?
5. To what extent have personal/informal contacts between politicians from V4 countries been made institutional?
6. What was the real policy of previous ruling coalitions vis-à-vis Central and Eastern Europe?
7. What was the real picture of collaboration on the European scene under previous coalitions?
8. What are the prospects of collaboration between V4 countries with respect to issues that concern institutional and political change within the framework of the EU and what blueprints for change might gain support from individual states in the region?
9. What is the political potential of V4 countries within EU structures – which elements of this potential are variable and which constitute a fixed component of their position in the international arena?

Speakers:

PART I

Dr Vlastimil Havlik (Masaryk University)

Dr Juraj Marusiak (Slovak Academy of Science)

Dr Adam Szestay (Director of the Department of Strategy and Planning , Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary)

Dr Artur Wołek (Polish Academy of Science)

PART II

Dr Piotr Bajda (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University)

Dr Marek A. Cichocki (Natolin European Centre)

Mgr Vít Dostál (Association for International Affairs, Prague)

Dr Martin Pašiak (Comenius University in Bratislava)

Dr Csaba Törő (Hungarian Institute of International Affairs)

Dr Paweł Ukielski (Polish Academy of Science)