<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> This study considers the plethora of contemporary institutional frameworks for Central European cooperation. While the Visegrad Group has been the most visible and stable format for Central European cooperation in recent history, it has been challenged by a number of alternative or complementary projects. These include the Austrian concept of Strategic/Regional Partnership, the Austrian-Czech-Slovak project Austerlitz-Formate/Nord‑Trilaterale, the Polish-Croatian Three Seas Initiative and the European Union’s macro‑regional Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). I focus on the development and prospects of each of these projects as well the rivalries among them and their intersections ot interference with one another. This survey then turns to the future Central European constellations suggested by the very different cooperation trajectories within the region. My thesis is that the region’s identity has been challenged by offers to merge with Europe’s West. Central European cooperation must find new challenges and themes if it is to survive.</p></abstract>

This study considers the plethora of contemporary institutional frameworks for Central European cooperation. While the Visegrad Group has been the most visible and stable format for Central European cooperation in recent history, it has been challenged by a number of alternative or complementary projects. These include the Austrian concept of Strategic/Regional Partnership, the Austrian-Czech-Slovak project Austerlitz-Formate/Nord‑Trilaterale, the Polish-Croatian Three Seas Initiative and the European Union’s macro‑regional Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). I focus on the development and prospects of each of these projects as well the rivalries among them and their intersections ot interference with one another. This survey then turns to the future Central European constellations suggested by the very different cooperation trajectories within the region. My thesis is that the region’s identity has been challenged by offers to merge with Europe’s West. Central European cooperation must find new challenges and themes if it is to survive.

The Visegrad Cooperation in the Context of Other Central European Cooperation Formats

Politics in Central Europe

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

This study considers the plethora of contemporary institutional frameworks for Central European cooperation. While the Visegrad Group has been the most visible...

The Visegrad Cooperation in the Context of Other Central European Cooperation Formats

Published Online: Sep 15, 2018

Page range: 165 - 179

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2018-0014

Keywords
Central European cooperation formats, Visegrad Group, Austerlitz‑Formate, Three Seas Initiative, Strategy for the Danube Region, spaghetti bowl effect

© 2018 Ladislav Cabada, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The Visegrad Cooperation in the Context of Other Central European Cooperation Formats

Published Online: Sep 15, 2018

Page range: 165 - 179

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2018-0014

KeywordsCentral European cooperation formats, Visegrad Group, Austerlitz‑Formate, Three Seas Initiative, Strategy for the Danube Region, spaghetti bowl effect

© 2018 Ladislav Cabada, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Central European cooperation formats, Visegrad Group, Austerlitz‑Formate, Three Seas Initiative, Strategy for the Danube Region, spaghetti bowl effect