SFPA - Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs

The accession of Hungary and Slovakia to the European Union provided them with
an opportunity to shape the policies of the EU, including foreign and enlargement ones.
Until now, neither of the countries exploited all chances they had, since a big portion of
their diplomatic activities aimed at the explanation of problems in their bilateral rela-
tions. Instead of presenting new initiatives that might be of added value for the EU, both
countries got the reputation of more hostile EU members.

Citizens of Visegrad states - the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary - have many common experiences related to the history of the region. One of these experiences is the limited freedom of travel to the countries of Western Europe before 1989. Czech, Poles, Slovaks and Hungarians know well what it means to struggle with numerous formalities and lengthy procedures in order to travel to a selected destination.