The ties between Russia and Central European countries have been neither ideal, nor simple. Historical burdens make the search for optimal level of mutual relationship quite complicated. The complexity of the situation is demonstrated by the discussion about what Central Europe is. Different perception of this entity causes first misunderstandings.
Russkii vopros discusses problems with the definition of Central Europe and the relationship between Central Europeans countries and Russia with Tomáš Strážay, Senior Research Fellow at the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)
After the World War I new states in Central Europe emerged, but it took only about 20 years and they fell again under the rule of big powers—Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. This happened despite the efforts of convinced Central Europeans, including Milan Hodža or Oskár Jászi, who were strongly in favor of deepened cooperation among Central European states. Nazi Germany used the concept of Mitteleuropa, which put Germany and its interest above all.
The Soviet Union pushed Central European nations to a collective amnesia—they were expected to identify with the Soviet rule and forget about their affiliation to Central Europe. In light of the above, it is not surprising that Central European countries look at terms like “New Eastern Europe” with certain suspicion—it reminds them of the periods when their countries were the playground of big powers.
It is true, however, that Russia (still) considers the EU to be a weak partner and prefers to develop a dialogue with particular member states. If the deepening of the European integration process continues, however, Russia will have to change its position. Russia certainly plays—and will continue to play—an important position in big energy projects in Europe; it is also not possible to exclude it from a dialogue about security issues. In both fields V4 countries have a lot to say.
This does not mean that a bilateral dialogue between Russia and a particular V4 country does not make sense, but the voice is stronger if a decision is adopted on the V4 level. In the last twenty years there appeared ideas to build an exclusive partnership with Russia in some Central Europe countries, but these attempts were not successful at all. When looking in the future, it is also important to remember lessons learned from past mistakes.
We have various definitions of the complicated term “Central Europe”. There is also an interesting development of the understanding of this term. In the context of the first question it would be useful to remember the opinion that the term Central Europe has been used by Central Europeans to stress that we are not Eastern Europe. What is your understanding of Central Europe?
[1] "Most unfortunate, and Mr. Lavrov is normally good and does not make that kind of mistake, but the difference is whether you think in geographic terms, in which case the definition of Eastern Europe is fairly clear. It is the area where the Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant church, in which Cyrillic script is used in writing, and which has traditionally been a part of the Russian Empire. Central Europe is the part which used to be Austro-Hungary, and that includes, clearly, the Czech Republic. During the Cold War, when there was no Europe at all, when the world was simply divided between ‘the East’ and ‘the West’, then we were considered Eastern Europe, just as England was considered Western Europe. So I think Mr. Lavrov here reverted to the old political way of thinking, a Cold War division between East and West. But we are back to doing geography, not politics.”
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