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Poland Southern Neighbors and the Visegrád Triangle
With the demise of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, the
so-called
upper tier nations of Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia, which in 1990 became the Czech and Slovak
Federative Republic) found themselves in a security vacuum
with
both military and economic dimensions. But by late 1991,
all
three had gained associate status with NATO and the EC and
were
pursuing full membership in those organizations.
Poland, the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, and
Hungary
all supported an enhanced peacekeeping role for the CSCE,
and all
joined emerging regional integration associations such as
the
Central European Initiative. Originally called the
Pentagonale
and including Italy, Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia, this grouping aimed to strengthen
economic,
cultural, and ecological cooperation in the region. The
organization became known as the Hexagonale when Poland
joined in
July 1991, only to be renamed the Central European
Initiative a
few months later when Yugoslavia's breakup brought the
withdrawal
of that nation.
Already in 1990, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia had
begun
to coordinate efforts toward shared goals, including the
end of
the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact and Comecon and entry
into
Western institutions. A milestone in trilateral
cooperation was
the February 1991 summit meeting of Hungary's Prime
Minister
József Antall, President Václav Havel of the Czech and
Slovak
Federative Republic, and Lech Walesa at Visegrád, Hungary.
An
earlier summit at Bratislava had initiated a series of
meetings
and exchanges among the leaders of the three potential
partners,
leading to the formation of a consultative committee to
coordinate policy on regional problems. The following
January,
the foreign ministers met in Budapest and issued a joint
communiqué criticizing the Kremlin's military crackdown in
the
Baltics. The foreign ministers also issued a statement of
support
for the United States-led coalition in the Kuwait crisis.
The outcome of the Visegrád summit was the Declaration
on the
Cooperation of the Hungarian Republic, the Czech and
Slovak
Federative Republic, and the Republic of Poland on the
Road to
European Integration. The document committed the
signatories to
eliminate the vestiges of totalitarianism, build
democracy,
ensure human rights, and totally integrate themselves into
the
"European political, economic, security, and legislative
order."
The triangle was not intended to become a military
alliance, as
Foreign Minister Skubiszewski carefully emphasized to
allay fears
in Moscow. Poland subsequently signed bilateral military
accords
with the other triangle partners, again insisting that the
agreements were designed to promote communication and
understanding and posed no threat to any specific country.
During the August coup attempt in Moscow, triangle
political
and military leaders were in frequent contact, agreeing to
adopt
a common position toward the crisis and the refugee and
border
security problems that might result from it. In October
1991, a
second summit in Kraków formalized the Visegrád
declaration,
accelerated efforts to gain NATO and EC membership, and
advocated
an expanded role for the CSCE. The eight-point Kraków
declaration
also chastised Serbia as the aggressor in the Yugoslav
conflict
and called for national self-determination and the
preservation
of the previously existing republic boundaries in that
country.
In the months following the Kraków summit, several key
events
strengthened ties among the triangle members and with the
West.
The triangle supported a proposal by the United States and
Germany to establish a North Atlantic Cooperation Council
that
would promote stability and communication between NATO and
the
nations of Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. And
in
December, the triangle countries were accorded associate
membership in the EC. This step established routine
political
contacts with the EC and set the course toward eventual
full
membership. Also in December, the triangle members agreed
to
coordinate their policy on recognition of the independence
of
Slovenia and Croatia, which they granted in January 1992.
In
April 1992, they jointly recognized the independence of
Bosnia
and Hercegovina.
By early autumn 1992, the future of the triangle was
clouded
by the impending division of the Czech and Slovak
Federative
Republic and by tensions between Hungary and Slovakia over
a
series of issues. After meeting Czech prime minister
Václav Klaus
in September, Polish prime minister Suchocka stated that
Poland
viewed the split as a settled matter and would treat the
Czech
Republic and Slovakia on equal terms. Klaus stressed that
trilateral relations would become less important, and that
closer
bilateral ties among the members would be the way of the
future.
Polish foreign minister Skubiszewski, however, favored
continuing
the Visegrád Triangle, stating that there were problems
that
could be resolved better through regional cooperation than
by
unilateral or bilateral action.
Data as of October 1992
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