The Limits of Economic Relations of the Visegrad Group

The article is devoted to the analysis of the economic positions of the Visegrad Group after the accession of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the EU. The economic development of the “four” was considered from three points of view, including the transformation of Visegrad positions in the EU, changes in intercountry relations within the regional sub-integration group and shifts at the official level of the Visegrad Group. The article shows that during the membership of the “four” in the European Union their role in the economy of the integration association had increased, which strengthens the positions of the “four” at the pan-European level in general. The author describes the main trends of the economic relations within the “four” and notes that the intra-group economic relations are a relatively low priority compared to other types of interactions. Interconnections in all economic areas in the Visegrad Group are not sufficiently developed. The author identifies the states that are the most and the least dependent on inter-county economic relations in the regional sub-integration group using the examples of the foreign trade sector and FDI sector. The article assesses the changes that have occurred at the official level of the Visegrad Group in the economic relations sphere since the mid-2000s. The author examines the key issues of such level of cooperation citing different positions of member-countries. The analysis allows us to talk about the “four’s” success in the economic relations development, but the Visegrad countries preserve certain limits of economic relations within the regional sub-integration group.