Defending and Modelling Europe: The Visegrad Group Experience

In the world of today, the sole economic region with its own institutions (of a suprastate nature), with a coherent economic policy in every respect regarding the almost all European Space, is the European Union. After the last wave on enlargement, Croatia in 2014 and the exit of United Kingdom in 2019 (the famous “Brexit”), with threats from external sources and with even home tensions amongst the 27 Mermber States, the EU needs cohesion and harmonization of different points of view, in order to ensure the functionality of all pieces and “parts” of the its complex economic and social system. In this case, we consider that an import role can play socalled The Visegrad 4 or Visegrad Group ‒ Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, ‒ on the one hand to defend the achievements of the EU, and on the other hand, to report shortcomings and to improve norms and regulations, favorable for all Members, as in the examples analyzed in the paper. Therefore, we consider that is better to be a sort of counterweight to the global leadership of Bruxelles, in order to maintain the cohesion and a balanced development of the European Union. Even some countries of the group have taken measures considered illiberal forms of democracy and, therefore, leading to euroscepticism, in fact their economies have hugely benefited from the absorption of EU funds. The economic development and the existence of a sound economic infrastructure are the premises for a better understanding of the facts and realities in the European Union and allow to the respective country (countries) to have a grounded opinion and influence the general management of the Union. Everyone has to think and understand the coordination between the local interests of the Member States and what the Regional system needs and intend to do. Exactly, this is the situation in the relationships between Leadership and Management. In the last place, the V4 is supporting, by its experience, the integration of the West Balkans countries within EU and promoting the enlargement process as the most suitable tool of EU influence and image in the region.