What is the role of the Visegrad Group in the context of the international order?

Each of its constituent members (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) are also members of the European Union, NATO, the Three Seas Initiative and the UN. What purpose does the Visegrad Group serve today, and what role does it play in fostering the region's security priorities? How effective has it been as a political alliance?

In this exploration of the political life of the Visegrad Group, we will consider the context of its establishment, the enormous geopolitical shifts of the past thirty years and the realities of its political relationships today.

Meet the speakers

Peter Balazs, Central European University 

Vladimír Bilčík, Member of the European Parliament 

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Member of the European Parliament 

Alison Smale, journalist and former UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications

Michael Žantovský, Executive Director of the Václav Havel Library

Meet the chair

Michael Cox is Founding Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor in International Relations at LSE.

This is the final in a series of three events commemorating the 30 year anniversary of the Visegrad Group, held in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute in London.

Our series explores the Visegrad Group from its economic, cultural, and political aspects to assess its successes and failures over the past thirty years and consider what to expect from the Visegrad Four in the future. Thirty years since its inception, we ask: how has the alliance fared? What are its strengths and achievements? What are its weaknesses and where has it failed to make headway? What is the V4’s ambitions, role, and future, within the EU and the international order?

LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

The Polish Cultural Institute in London promotes Polish culture and heritage to British audiences, as well as developing collaborations and building bridges between key cultural and academic institutions in Poland and the UK.

The Czech Centre London actively promotes the Czech Republic by showcasing Czech culture, innovations and creativity in the UK.

The Embassy of the Slovakia in London is the diplomatic mission of Slovakia in the UK.

Twitter hashtag for this event: #LSEVisegrad