Challenges to Visegrad's Democracy Assistance: Ukraine and Beyond

The Center for EU Enlargement Studies is hosting the discussion of the policy paper summarizing the outcomes of a two-part workshop which took place during the annual Forum 2000 Conference in October 2014. The paper argues that based on recent developments, the Visegrad Group (V4) is increasingly facing internal and external challenges to its democracy promotion initiatives. These challenges come not only from the growing political power of 'illiberal' regimes on the world scene (such as China and Russia) but also from the declining internal coherence of the group itself. The paper identifies one of the main tasks facing the V4 democracies as the tailoring og Václav Havel's legacy (i.e. the emphasis o democratic values and human rights in politics) to contemporary circumstances. This task is especially pressing due to current developments in Ukraine. The V4 states can be a source of practical expertise to Ukraine in dealing with concrete social, economic and political issues, as the Ukrainian political transition is taking place in a similar context to Visegrad. But in order to provide effective democracy assistance both on the rhetorical and practical level, the V4 must be united and approach developments in Ukraine with an increased level of strategic thinking.

Is the V4 coherent in its attitude towards democracy assistance in Ukraine?
What does Ukraine need to develop its civil society and a stable and effective government?
How can the V4 countries contribute to the transitional efforts in Ukraine most effectively?

Opening remarks
Péter Balázs, Director of CENS, Budapest
Jakub Klepal, Executive Director of Forum 2000, Prague

Opening presentation
Jan Hornát, PhD candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague

Discussants
Yevhen Hlibovitsky, pro.mova, Nestor Group, Lviv
Tímea Huber, Head of Department for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Budapest
Simon Pánek, Co-Founder and Director, People in Need, Prague
Zsuzsanna Végh, Research assistant, CENS, Budapest

Due to limited number of seats, participation is upon confirmed registration only!
Register at iveta.cerna@forum2000.cz.