The Visegrad Group and the European Union’s ‘Eastern’ Dimension

The 2004 enlargement of the European Union (EU) changed the dynamics of its engagement with the former Soviet Republics which now constitute the Eastern neighbourhood. As well as manifold implications of the eastward shift of the EU border and ‘acquisition of a shared neighbourhood with Russia, the enlarged EU now incorporated new member states with foreign policy concerns focused mostly on the Eastern neighbours. Four of the new member states – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – brought into the EU with them their own subregional alliance in the form of the Visegrad Group (VG). Since 2004 the ‘Visegrad 4’ (V4) have been attempting to develop an effective multilateral contribution to EU ‘Eastern Policy’ and to reform processes in the WNIS. This paper argues that while there has been some evidence of an effective VG multilateral approach, in both inputs to EU Eastern policy and modest support for broader ‘Europeanisation’ processes in WNIS, so far the VG has failed to achieve a lead role in EU Eastern policy and that a range of obstacles have limited the multilateral approach of the V4 in general

Economic Relations Between Visegrad Group Countries and Russia: How Much Has Changed?

Introduction: Economic relations between EU member states and Russia have been strengthening steadily since 2000, especially after the EU eastward enlargement. The importance of Russia as an export market means that disruptions caused by sanctions are not only potentially costly but also contentious. Effects upon individual EU states vary due to the extent of trade with Russia and other important indicators of interdependence (such as energy sector integration). This paper focuses on the three ‘small’ Visegrad states’ – the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia – which have all been at the forefront of the EU export boom to Russia. They have also been amongst those EU countries that have expressed strong reservations about the use of economic sanctions against Russia and the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia have been amongst the most vocal critics of this aspect of the EU and US response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. In August 2015, a day after Slovak Premier Robert Fico had stated that ‘meaningless’ EU sanctions were damaging economic growth in the EU, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the West’s sanctions policy “causes more harm to us than to Russia…in politics, this is called shooting oneself in the foot” (Szakacs, 2014). The Russian government apparently regards Hungary as one of its main allies in the struggle to avoid renewal of EU sanctions in March 2015. In December 2014 it was reported that Moscow had “begun lobbying what it sees as sympathetic EU capitals – Budapest, Nicosia, and Rome – to veto next year’s renewal of Russia sanctions” (Rettman, 2014).On February 17 this year Orban hosted Vladimir Putin in defiance of the EU ban on bilateral summits with the Russian President. Meanwhile a few days earlier Czech President Milos Zeman, who has tended to take Russia’s side throughout the Ukraine crisis, called for the lifting or easing of sanctions against Russia following the ‘Minsk 2’ peace deal. Though a division between views of President and views of government in the Czech Republic is often claimed, on January 15 this year Czech minister of industry and trade Jan Mládek stated that “(o)ur primary goal is to maintain exports to Russia. Diversification of exports is desirable, but we must do it with a humble mind, knowing that it is a long and costly affair. Therefore, it is important for us to keep on staying on the Russian market” (Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2015)

Dilemmas of post-enlargement Europe: building an 'Insecurity Zone'

This article reflects on the development and operation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) from the perspective of the post-1989 attempt to extend the West European ���Security Community��� into the wider Europe via processes of both EU enlargement and attempts to foster deep integration with former Soviet states. Whilst the EU���s strategy towards eastern neighbours should certainly not be taken as the sole or even key cause of the ���insecurity zone��� in and around the EU���s eastern frontier, it seems hard to avoid the conclusion that actions such as the ENP and EaP have played an important part in these developments. This is an analytical contribution rather than a study based on primary research. As well as extending existing discussions about the expansion of the European Security Community and the application of the ���Optimum Integration Area��� concept to the EaP countries, the article includes a focus on EU states��� economic relations with Russia which is a critical albeit underexplored constraint upon EU ���eastern��� policy

The role of 'Letters to the Editor' in shaping mass media representations of Brexit

Brexit has commanded an enormous amount of attention in the UK media, both before and since the In-Out referendum on June 23 2016. Though various studies have already considered the overall role of newspapers in affecting attitudes towards the EU in the UK, this paper will focus on an area in which there has so far been no research: the role of ‘Letters to the Editor’ in newspaper contributions to the Brexit debate and their parts in equipping voters to make an informed choice. It looks at six UK national newspapers, all with varied stances on the EU and with different tones and styles of getting messages across to readers. All letters published in each paper during the month leading up to the referendum will be scrutinised with a view to throwing some light on the following initial questions. To what extent did readers’ letters tend to support and reinforce each newspaper’s stance on ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’? To what extent did readers’ letters contribute to a real debate in each newspaper, i.e. disputing the content of articles or editorials published by the newspapers or disputing other readers’ letters? How, if at all, did the role of readers’ letters vary between the six newspapers? Finally, were there any differences of note in the style and format of the different newspapers’ letters pages

Post-CMEA economic relations of former Soviet Bloc countries and Russia: Continuity and change

This article relects on how the economic and trade relations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia with Russia have developed in the twenty years since the abolition of the CMEA. The article’s main indings are as follows. First, there have been two distinct phases in postCMEA trade patterns. After a long period of stagnation prior to EU accession, Russia has since become a signiicant export market for all three states. For the three, the build-up of export capacity during EU pre-accession was arguably more important than EU entry per se. Second, energy dependency, a key CMEA-era interconnection, has remained a signiicant feature of economic relations between Russia and the three throughout the post-CMEA era. Third, the growing importance of bilateral intergovernmental instruments charged with promoting trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the three has been a notable feature of the post-004 period. Fourth, the main political parties in each of the three tended to take diferent positions on economic relations with Russia. Yet changes of government seem to have been rather marginal in terms of both the conduct of economic relations with Russia and levels of trade and economic cooperation, especially in the post-004 period

Aid Allocation of the Emerging Central and Eastern European Donors

The paper examines the main characteristics of the (re)emerging foreign aid policies of the Visegrád countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), concentrating on the allocation of their aid resources. We adopt an econometric approach, similar to the ones used in the literature for analyzing the aid allocation of the OECD DAC donors. Using this approach, we examine the various factors that influence aid allocation of the Visegrád countries, using data for the years between 2001 and 2008. Our most important conclusion is that the amount of aid a partner county gets from the four emerging donors is not influenced by the level of poverty or the previous performance (measured by the level of economic growth or the quality of institutions) of the recipients. The main determining factor seems to be geographic proximity, as countries in the Western-Balkans and the Post-Soviet region receive much more aid from the Visegrád countries than other recipients. Historical ties (pre-1989 development relations) and international obligations in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq are also found to be significant explanatory factors. This allocation is in line with the foreign political and economic interests of these new donors. While there are clear similarities between the four donors, the paper also identifies some individual country characteristics

Diversity of fungus-growing termites (Macrotermes) and their fungal symbionts (Termitomyces) in the semiarid Tsavo Ecosystem, Kenya.

Fungus-growing termites of the subfamily Macrotermitinae together with their highly specialized fungal symbionts (Termitomyces) are primary decomposers of dead plant matter in many African savanna ecosystems. The termites provide crucial ecosystem services also by modifying soil properties, translocating nutrients, and as important drivers of plant succession. Despite their obvious ecological importance, many basic features in the biology of fungus-growing termites and especially their fungal symbionts remain poorly known, and no studies have so far focused on possible habitat-level differences in symbiont diversity across heterogeneous landscapes. We studied the species identities of Macrotermes termites and their Termitomyces symbionts by excavating 143 termite mounds at eight study sites in the semiarid Tsavo Ecosystem of southern Kenya. Reference specimens were identified by sequencing the COI region from termites and the ITS region from symbiotic fungi. The results demonstrate that the regional Macrotermes community in Tsavo includes two sympatric species (M. subhyalinus and M. michaelseni) which cultivate and largely share three species of Termitomyces symbionts. A single species of fungus is always found in each termite mound, but even closely adjacent colonies of the same termite species often house evolutionarily divergent fungi. The species identities of both partners vary markedly between sites, suggesting hitherto unknown differences in their ecological requirements. It is apparent that both habitat heterogeneity and disturbance history can influence the regional distribution patterns of both partners in symbiosis.Peer reviewe

Assessment of the centre of pressure pattern and moments about S2 in scoliotic subjects during normal walking

Background Context: Research employing gait measurements indicate asymmetries in ground reaction forces and suggest relationships between these asymmetries, neurological dysfunction and spinal deformity. Although, studies have documented the use of centre of pressure (CoP) and net joint moments in gait assessment and have assessed centre of mass (CoM)-CoP distance relationships in clinical conditions, there is a paucity of information relating to the moments about CoM. It is commonly considered that CoM is situated around S2 vertebra in normal upright posture and hence this study uses S2 vertebral prominence as reference point relative to CoM. Purpose: To assess and establish asymmetry in the CoP pattern and moments about S2 vertebral prominence during level walking and its relationship to spinal deformity in adolescents with scoliosis. Patient sample: Nine Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis subjects (8 females and 1 male with varying curve magnitudes and laterality) scheduled for surgery within 2-3 days after data collection, took part in this study. Outcome measures: Kinetic and Kinematic Gait assessment was performed with an aim to estimate the CoP displacement and the moments generated by the ground reaction force about the S2 vertebral prominence during left and right stance during normal walking. Methods: The study employed a strain gauge force platform to estimate the medio-lateral and anterior-posterior displacement of COP and a six camera motion analysis system to track the reflective markers to assess the kinematics. The data were recorded simultaneously. Results: Results indicate wide variations in the medio lateral direction CoP, which could be related to the laterality of both the main and compensation curves. This variation is not evident in the anterior-posterior direction. Similar results were recorded for moments about S2 vertebral prominence. Subjects with higher left compensation curve had greater displacement to the left. Conclusion: Although further longitudinal studies are needed, results indicate that the variables identified in this study are applicable to initial screening and surgical evaluation of scoliosis. © 2008 Chockalingam et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Pathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in girls - a double neuro-osseous theory involving disharmony between two nervous systems, somatic and autonomic expressed in the spine and trunk: possible dependency on sympathetic nervous system and hormones with implications for medical therapy

Anthropometric data from three groups of adolescent girls - preoperative adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), screened for scoliosis and normals were analysed by comparing skeletal data between higher and lower body mass index subsets. Unexpected findings for each of skeletal maturation, asymmetries and overgrowth are not explained by prevailing theories of AIS pathogenesis. A speculative pathogenetic theory for girls is formulated after surveying evidence including: (1) the thoracospinal concept for right thoracic AIS in girls; (2) the new neuroskeletal biology relating the sympathetic nervous system to bone formation/resorption and bone growth; (3) white adipose tissue storing triglycerides and the adiposity hormone leptin which functions as satiety hormone and sentinel of energy balance to the hypothalamus for long-term adiposity; and (4) central leptin resistance in obesity and possibly in healthy females. The new theory states that AIS in girls results from developmental disharmony expressed in spine and trunk between autonomic and somatic nervous systems. The autonomic component of this double neuro-osseous theory for AIS pathogenesis in girls involves selectively increased sensitivity of the hypothalamus to circulating leptin (genetically-determined up-regulation possibly involving inhibitory or sensitizing intracellular molecules, such as SOC3, PTP-1B and SH2B1 respectively), with asymmetry as an adverse response (hormesis); this asymmetry is routed bilaterally via the sympathetic nervous system to the growing axial skeleton where it may initiate the scoliosis deformity (leptin-hypothalamic-sympathetic nervous system concept = LHS concept). In some younger preoperative AIS girls, the hypothalamic up-regulation to circulating leptin also involves the somatotropic (growth hormone/IGF) axis which exaggerates the sympathetically-induced asymmetric skeletal effects and contributes to curve progression, a concept with therapeutic implications. In the somatic nervous system, dysfunction of a postural mechanism involving the CNS body schema fails to control, or may induce, the spinal deformity of AIS in girls (escalator concept). Biomechanical factors affecting ribs and/or vertebrae and spinal cord during growth may localize AIS to the thoracic spine and contribute to sagittal spinal shape alterations. The developmental disharmony in spine and trunk is compounded by any osteopenia, biomechanical spinal growth modulation, disc degeneration and platelet calmodulin dysfunction. Methods for testing the theory are outlined. Implications are discussed for neuroendocrine dysfunctions, osteopontin, sympathoactivation, medical therapy, Rett and Prader-Willi syndromes, infantile idiopathic scoliosis, and human evolution. AIS pathogenesis in girls is predicated on two putative normal mechanisms involved in trunk growth, each acquired in evolution and unique to humans

"The Visegrád Group in the Expanded European Union: From Pre-accession to Post-accession Cooperation*"

[From the Introduction]. The first part of the paper provides a theoretical/analytical context by identifying the alternative ways in which subregional cooperation experiences have interacted with EU integration. It locates VG within this framework and briefly compares its EU pre-accession role with that of other types of subregional cooperation initiatives that have been active in post-communist Central Europe. The next section briefly reviews the origins of the VG and the main phases in its development, covering the period from its formation to the May 2004 EU enlargement. This is followed by a description of the nature and scope of VG cooperation as it developed during the EU pre-accession period. The final part of the paper discusses the nature and role of post-accession VG cooperation, with particular focus on the issue of the VG’s potential as a vehicle for promoting its’ members’ interests in the EU