Visegrad Team

IEŚ Commentaries 227

Łukasz Lewkowicz - Visegrad Team

“Back on track”: the Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group in the shadow of a pandemic (Łukasz Lewkowicz)

On July 1, Poland took over the annual presidency of the Visegrad Group (V4) for the sixth time. In the program of the new presidency, the emphasis was placed on taking joint actions to return to economic and social normality. The most important element of the functioning of the V4 in the coming year is to stimulate the economy weakened by the pandemic. The tasks of particular...

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Visegrad Team

IEŚ Commentaries 211

Łukasz Lewkowicz - Visegrad Team

“We didn’t write the past, the future is in our hands”: a new Slovak-Hungarian opening in the shadow of Trianon (Łukasz Lewkowicz)

June 4th marks 100 since the treaty was signed in Trianon, which resulted in the loss of a significant part of Hungary’s territory and population and in Slovakia being proclaimed as part of the newly created Czechoslovakia. In early June, Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok and Prime Minister Igor Matovič paid official visits to Budapest. Both politicians declare a new opening...

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Visegrad Team

IEŚ Commentaries 195

Agata Tatarenko - Visegrad Team

Another tension in Romanian-Hungarian relations (Agata Tatarenko)

At the end of April 2020, the Romanian Parliament dealt with a bill aimed at establishing an autonomous region covering areas inhabited by the Hungarian-speaking ethnic group Székelys. The bill was rejected by the senate, however, the initiative caused a number of controversies on the political scene in Romania, including, above all, the statement of President Klaus Iohannis. The...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 194

Marlena Gołębiowska - Visegrad Team

State-owned enterprises in the Central and Eastern Europe in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic (Marlena Gołębiowska)

Economic crises usually mean a return to state interventionism and a more active role for the state as owner. It is no different today. The COVID-19 pandemic reopens the debate on state-owned enterprises. Due to the history of economic ownership, it has particular resonance in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Especially that in the region is increasingly announcing the...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 184

Łukasz Lewkowicz - Visegrad Team

New Foreign Policy of Slovakia: Strengthening Transatlantic Orientation and Active Regional Cooperation (Łukasz Lewkowicz)

On April 19 Slovakian Prime Minister Igor Matovič presented the government’s program for 2020-2024, which was subsequently adopted by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on April 30. The anti-corruption activities, the reform of the justice system, and the pro-social policy constitute the central pillars of the new document. In the field of foreign policy, a clear...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 14

Agata Tatarenko - Visegrad Team

“Magna Hungaria” and “the Treaty of Trianon” in the Hungarian politics of memory: an outline of the issue (Agata Tatarenko)

“Magna Hungaria” and “the Treaty of Trianon” are two of several fundamental terms featured in the Hungarian politics of memory. Owing to a strong position they occupy in the cultural memory of Hungarians, they are a flexible substance for Fidesz and Viktor Orbán to base their actions upon and subordinate these to their present political objectives. These encompass e.g....

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 166

clivio - Visegrad Team

Removal of the Statue of Marshal Ivan Konev in Prague: a crisis in Czech-Russian relations (Agata Tatarenko)

After several years of dispute, the authorities of Prague 6 removed the monument of Marshal Ivan Konev from the public space. The statue is to be sent to the not-yet-existent Museum of Memory of the 20th century. The conflict over the memorial related to the history of World War II indicates a deepening crisis in Czech-Russian reactions, in which Prague’s local government is...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 162

Marlena Gołębiowska - Visegrad Team

COVID-19 and the digitalization of Central Europe (Marlena Gołębiowska)

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has become a global stress test. The restrictions of social distancing have led the world to accelerated “lessons” in the areas of communication, digital skills, online activities, information technology for businesses and digital public services. Paradoxically, this could be a turning point in the digital transformation of the Central European...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 157

Szczepan Czarnecki - Visegrad Team

COVID-19 Pandemic in Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia (Szczepan Czarnecki, Dominik Héjj, Łukasz Lewkowicz, Agata Tatarenko)

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the authorities of Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia to adopt a number of similar solutions such as strict lockdown or closing the borders. Decisive steps to limit and slow down the spread of COVID-19 have been undertaken in these countries earlier than in Western Europe. Each authorities have prepared an assistance package for domestic economies. At the...

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Visegrad Team

Komentarze IEŚ 155

Andrzej Szabaciuk - Visegrad Team

The Importance of Establishing a Consultative Council in Minsk from the Point of View of Settling the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine (Andrzej Szabaciuk)

On 11 March in Minsk, the Tripartite Contact Group on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donbas (TCG) signed an agreement about the establishment of the Consultative Council: an advisory body in which representatives of Ukraine and the separatist republics should deal with the political aspects of the Ukrainian crisis. Information about the new Minsk agreement caused...

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