Stand. Facing the war in Ukraine, the European Union [UE] unity was regained and the disagreements with certain countries of Central Europe receded into the background. Faced with the proximity of the conflict, the eastern flank of the EU is at the heart of Ukraine’s humanitarian, political and military aid system.
The visit of the Polish, Czech and Slovenian Prime Ministers to President Zelensky on March 15 in Kiev symbolized this strong moment of European solidarity. They then point out that their perception of the Russian threat, which is perceived as alarming, has turned out to be correct. They know from experience that when people in Moscow start talking “brotherhood”the tanks are not far away and they feel comforted by the correctness of their joining NATO, the only defense organization capable of deterring Russian imperialism.
These countries are in the reading of the conflict proposed by President Zelensky, that of “two different worlds” who oppose each other on their values, starting with freedom. ” That is it, said Zelensky, that determines who belongs to Europe. † It was the theme of Milan Kundera’s essay on Central Europe forty years ago A west kidnapped (Le Débat, Gallimard, 1983, first edition). With the expansion of the European Union to the east, Central Europe leaned to the west. Faced with Putin’s war, she looks east.
source of inspiration
The spontaneous openness of Ukraine’s neighbors – especially Poland – to the arrival of millions of refugees stands in stark contrast to their closure in light of the refugee influx from the Middle East in 2015. Hungarian Orban then built his fence, the Pole Kaczynski called for safety and health risks and the Visegrad countries (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia) then categorically rejected the idea of EU interference in the distribution of migrants. Today they see no objection to the EU meddling with a fund of 17 billion euros.
Is the East-West conflict over the reception of refugees and illiberal democracy disappearing? It seems premature to confirm this for at least three reasons.
One of the first secondary victims of the war in Ukraine is the Visegrad group. On the train that took the three prime ministers to Kiev was an infamous absentee: Viktor Orban. The latter is an ally and a source of inspiration for its Polish partner in the field of “illiberal democracy” but they are far apart when it comes to their relationship with Putin’s Russia. Kaczynski takes a hard line against Russia, advocating the delivery of planes to Kiev, as well as sending a “mission of peace” of NATO in Ukraine.
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