New Eastern Europe - November-December 2017

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vegetative existence in 1992 – 1998 and gradually widened its field of co-operation

since. As N ATO and EU enlargements were grand geopolitical leaps filled with a

trillion tiny steps, the question arises: Was there still a place to recognise Poland’s

exceptional role in the 1980s, as we saw in Havel’s speech?

Cornerstone of relations

With the exception of a short time period before the N ATO enlargement,

when the so-called 2+2 format of joint meetings of Czech and Polish foreign and

defence ministers was established, there was not anything fundamentally special in

relations between the Czech Republic and Poland before 2004. The two countries

were, indeed, very close to each other. Mutual support in Euro-Atlantic integra-

tion was a cornerstone of Czech-Polish relations and membership of the Czech

Republic in the EU without Poland, or vice versa, would be inconceivable. The

bilateral co-operation thus mirrored the principal goal of both countries’ foreign

policy, which was membership of the EU. All other issues were subordinated to

it. Yet a major exception was the Visegrad co-operation which became rooted in

1990 in national bureaucracies and contributed to better contacts with Visegrad

partner countries, including Poland.

These contacts were capitalised soon after the accession to the EU, as the Czech-

Polish co-operation suddenly expanded. In 2006 – 2007, both countries expressed

reservations regarding the EU treaty revision. The Czech Republic and Poland

negotiated with the United States on the placement of elements of the US missile

defence system on their soil. The very fact that both countries entered the EU with

many transitional provisions (regarding the Common Agricultural Policy or the

Labour Market) and were much poorer put them into a less favourable position

vis-à-vis the Western European member states. Together, this made the Czech

Republic and Poland natural allies in the EU.

Visegrad visibility

Yet, these issues which bounded us together are becoming less and less rel-

evant. The perception of the EU is different, the threat perception diverges and

so do sectoral priorities in the EU. What has remained, however, is the Visegrad

Group. Moreover, the Visegrad Group is even more visible in European politics

today than ever before, as it has gained much attention due to its disapproval of

accepting refugees in the framework of the EU relocation programme. However, I

Poles and Czechs across generations Czech-Polish relations, Vít Dostál