Central Europe: Taking Up Where the U.K. Left Off

The Visegrad Group will look for more partners to push for an "intergovernmental Europe," rather than a "supranational Europe." The pool of potential partners is growing.

by Eugene Chausovsky
July 27, 2016

Forecast

• The Central European states of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary — known as the Visegrad Group — will become increasingly vocal and active in shaping the post-Brexit EU reform process.

• The four countries will advocate the repatriation of powers from Brussels to national parliaments and will push for an "intergovernmental Europe" rather than a "supranational Europe."

• Because of their relatively small size and peripheral location, the Visegrad Group countries will look for allies within the European Union to advance their goals, aided by the growing Euroskepticism in the region.

Analysis

Four Central European countries see the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union as their opportunity to shape the future of the bloc. The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary met in Warsaw on July 22 to discuss the issue for the second time in two months. Out of the first meeting on June 29, just days after the …