POLITICAL RELATIONS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY AND THE STATES OF THE VISEGRÁD GROUP

Marić Bojan S. (Republički fond za zdravstveno osiguranje Kragujevac), bojan.erdoglija@gmail.com

After the collapse of the USSR and the triumph of the liberal world over the communist bloc, the states of the Visegrád Group have unanimously opted geopolitically for Euro-Atlantic integration and embarked on a process of economic transformation. Aware of its historical responsibility and geographical proximity to these countries, Germany’s foreign policy of the early nineties has expressed unreserved support for the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the leaderships of the Visegrád Troika and then the Four, following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The crises the EU has been facing, from the outbreak of the financial crisis, the migrant and the Ukrainian crises, to the “divorce dispute” between the EU and the UK and Northern Ireland, have all been a real test for the newcomers to the family of European nations, including the states of the Visegrád Group. The fact that unlike the western EU member states, which had been shaped by a democratic political culture during the Cold War, the Visegrád Group states were all united under an authoritarian political and military alliance led by the USSR, only serves to make their trials even more difficult. Because the focus of the European bloc will be on the German/French duo following the UK\'s exit from the EU, it is in Germany\'s interest to guide its strong economic relations with the Visegrád Group states in the direction of constructive contribution to the further strengthening of the family of European nations.

Keywords: Federal Republic of Germany, Visegrád Group, European Union, NATO, economy, Eurozone, migrant crisis, Russian Federation