Publication

This paper looks at why the Visegrad Group is incapable of adopting a unified position on sanctioning Russia for its intervention in Ukraine. To inform this analysis, the author reviews and compares the relations between each of the four Visegrad countries – Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary - and Russia. He finds that while Poland and the Czech Republic support sanctions on the basis of normative and geopolitical considerations, Slovakia and Hungary oppose them as they give a higher priority to their business interests. He goes on to say that these differences are of a lasting strategic nature and unlikely to change unless Russia poses a direct threat to these countries.