Grupa Wyszehradzka: status polityczny i specyfika działań międzynarodowych na przykładzie inicjatywy Partnerstwa Wschodniego Unii Europejskiej

Abstrakt: The Visegrad Group, formed in 1991 by Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, is an example of an inter-state multilateral cooperation based on common interests in a number of fi elds: political, economic and cultural. The Group’s international status is defi ned through its international cooperation with all types of subjects (states and international organizations), notably those in the neighborhood, and its principal aim and the imperative of its actions is to promote democracy and welfare in all parts of Europe. Since their accession to the EU in 2004, the members of the Group have been pursuing the above goals also within the Union. What is signifi cant, the presently declared intention of the Visegrad Group is to actively contribute towards building of the broadly understood European security based on eff ective, complementary and mutually reinforcement of cooperation and coordination of states, using the existing European and transatlantic institutions. In this context, the countries and societies of Eastern Europe, involved in the EU’s Eastern Partnership project aiming to create a friendly and stable international environment with a view to the so-called Wider Europe, remain an area of particular interest to the Visegrad Group.