Channeling Experiences, and Learning from Each Other

Participants

Czech Republic

Hungary

Poland

Slovakia

The research project

In the framework of the three years long project the four participating institutes would organize altogether 4 conferences, dedicated to the detailed analysis of the foreign policies of the V4 countries. Experts from the Eastern neighbourhood would also be invited to all the four events in order to support the transfer of regional cooperation experiences towards the Eastern neighbourhood and enhance the euro-Atlantic integration of these countries.

The topic of the first conference would be the CIS region, while the second would focus on energy security. The third event will deal with the future of the V4 cooperation, while the fourth one will analyze the possibilities of the V4 countries in the EU, with special attention of the that-time coming Czech EU presidency. Besides these, at each and every workshops the broader international context defining the Central-European region (trans-Atlantic relations, cooperation inside the EU) would also be analyzed.

To each and every event the participating experts will be expected to contribute with professional, policy-oriented working papers to be discussed at the workshop. All working papers will be published on the project website in English, and possibly be translated to all four Visegrad languages. This way we hope to reach the wider public as well with the results of the experts’ discussion. Moreover, online publications and follow-up would help to ensure the transparency of the project as well. At the end of the project the edited versions of the working papers will be published in a book as well, for which we plan to contract with a well-respected Western publishing house.

Each event would take place in one of the V4 capitals, where the host foreign policy institute will provide the necessary infrastructure (conference room, organizational work, etc.). The project will be started in Budapest and finished in Prague. The general coordinator of the project will be the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA) in Budapest, and the HIIA will be responsible for operating the website, and managing the publications as well.

Approximately 25-30 participants will take part in the workshops: experts delegated by the hosting institution (in a rotational system), 3-4 people from the other three V4 countries and 1-2 experts from Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia.

The main result of the project will be the better understanding of each other’s foreign policies in the V4 region via open, professional discussion. Moreover, experts of the national foreign policy institutes have the possibilities of channelling back the results to the national foreign policy decision-making systems. In addition to this, through the publications in the national languages we hope to get the wider public (including the local expert communities) involved, thus enhancing the public awareness about the Visegrad cooperation.

The participants of the project

The Hungarian Institute of International Affairs
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Institute of International Relations Prague
Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association

Opening Conference 6-9th December 2007

Conference programme

Thursday (6^th December)

Whole day

Arrival of the participants

Friday (7^th December) – Experts’ workshop

8:15	Departure from the hotel. The meeting point is the reception desk.
8:45	Registration
9:15-9:30	Prof. László Kiss. J. Director of the Institute	Welcome speech
9:15-9:30	András Rácz Project coordinator	Introduction to the project
9:30 – 13:00	Panel I: The foreign and security policy of Hungary towards the Eastern Neighbourhood Chairman: Dr. Pál Dunay (Geneva Center for Security Policy)
9:30 – 10:00	Amb. István Íjgyártó Ministry of Foreign Affairs	The foreign and security policy of Hungary towards the Eastern Neighbourhood
10:00 – 10:30	Edit Bátorfi Head of International Relations Department, Ministry of Economy and Transport	The foreign trade relations of Hungary with Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova
10:30 – 10:45	Discussion
10:45 - 11:10	Coffee break
11:10 – 11:40	Sándor Köles Senior Vice President for Programs and Development	Hungary and the promotion of democracy – activities of the International Center for Democratic Transition
11:40 – 12:10	Dr. László Póti ZMNDU Strategic Defence Studies Center	Objectives and problems of the Hungarian foreign policy towards the Eastern neighbourhood (pdf)
12:10 – 12:30	Discussion
12:30 – 14:00	Lunch
14:00 – 16:20	Panel II: National foreign policies towards the Eastern Neighbourhood
14:00 – 14:20	Dr. Petr Drulák Director of the Institute of International Relations Prague	The case of the Czech Republic (pdf) (exact title TBC)
14:20 – 14:40	Dr. Slawomir Debski Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs	The case of Poland (pdf) (exact title TBC)
14:40 – 15:00	Dr. Alexander Duleba Director of the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association	The case of Slovakia (pdf) (exact title TBC)
15:00 – 15:20	Laurynas Jonavicius Research Fellow of the Eastern European Studies Center	The case of Lithuania (pdf) (exact title TBC)
15:20 – 15:40	Marek Menkiszak Centre for Eastern Studies	Comments on the ENP (pdf) (exact title TBC)
15:40 - 16:10	Discussion
16:10 - 16:30	Coffee break
16:30 – 18:10	Panel III: Perceptions of the national foreign policies in the Eastern Neighbourhood
16:30 – 16:50	Dr. Maksim Belitski Researcher, Minsk State University	The case of Belarus (pdf) (exact title TBC)
16:50 – 17:10	Dumitru Minzarari Research Fellow, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives IDIS “Viitorul”	The case of Moldova (pdf) (exact title TBC)
17:10 – 17:30	Mykhailo Samus Research Fellow, Center For Army, Conversion And Disarmament Studies	The case of Ukraine – problems and perspectives of Ukraine’s future NATO accession (pdf) (exact title TBC)
17:30 – 18:10	Discussion
18:10	Departure for dinner
18:45	Dinner in Kaltenberg restaurant

Saturday (8^th December) – Open conference

Estimated number of guest: 30-40

9:30	Registration
9:45 – 10:00	Prof. László Kiss. J. Director of the Institute	Welcome speech
10:00 – 12:50	Panel I: National foreign policies of the Visegrad and Baltic states towards the Eastern neighbourhood Chairman: Dr. Pál Dunay (Geneva Center for Security Policy)
10:00-10:20	Amb. Marianne Berecz Head of Department Ministry of Foreign Affairs	The foreign and security policy of Hungary towards Russia and Ukraine
10:20 – 10:40	Amb. Ferenc Kontra Ministry of Foreign Affairs	The foreign and security policy of Hungary towards Belarus and Moldova
10:40 – 11:00	Elsa Tulmets – Michal Koran Director of the Institute of International Relations Prague	The case of the Czech Republic
11:00 – 11:20	Coffee break
11:20 – 11:40	Adam Eberhardt Deputy Director of the Research Office of the Polish Institute of International Affairs	The case of Poland (exact title TBC)
11:40 – 12:00	Dr. Alexander Duleba Director of the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association	The case of Slovakia (exact title TBC)
12:00 – 12:20	Laurynas Jonavicius Research Fellow of the Eastern European Studies Center	The case of Lithuania (exact title TBC)
12:20 – 12:50	Discussion
12:50 – 13:20	Coffee break
13:20 – 15:20	Panel II: Perceptions of the national foreign policies in the Eastern Neighbourhood Chairman: András Rácz (Hungarian Institute of International Affairs)
13:20 – 13:40	Dr. Maksim Belitski Researcher, Minsk State University	The case of Belarus (exact title TBC)
13:40 – 14:00	Dumitru Minzarari Research Fellow, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives IDIS “Viitorul”	The case of Moldova (exact title TBC)
14:20 – 14:40	Mykhailo Samus Research Fellow, Center For Army, Conversion And Disarmament Studies	The case of Ukraine – problems and perspectives of Ukraine’s future NATO accession (exact title TBC)
14:40 – 15:10	Discussion
15:10 – 15:20	Conference closing
15:20	Buffet lunch(served at the HIIA)

Sunday (9^th December)

Whole day

Departure of the participants

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