Urban and rural environments are often perceived as different social worlds with their own econom... more Urban and rural environments are often perceived as different social worlds with their own economic, social and cultural relations. One of the encounters of such worlds would then be a suburbanization process that turns the countryside into the hinterland of our cities. In this paper, we will focus on changes in the political behavior of the population in connection with this process, in which not only the physical environment of the conurbations is transformed, but also the social and cultural characteristics of the local population significantly change. Using the data from the elections to the National Council of the Slovak Republic in the years 1998 – 2016, we will mainly monitor changes in support of the urbanest parties, which to a certain extent reflect the changing social structure in this area. Although the paper deals with only one specific aspect of suburbanization, we believe that understanding and interpreting changes in electoral behavior is part of the mosaic of complex social and cultural transformation of the urban hinterland.
Highlights
• The paper reinvigorates post-socialism as a conceptual tool for addressing relationa... more Highlights • The paper reinvigorates post-socialism as a conceptual tool for addressing relational geographies of Europe. • It proposes a dialogic approach, based on contingency, ontological openness and rejection of teleology and essentialism. • This is illustrated in a critical discourse analysis of urban activism in Bratislava, Slovakia. • The notion of community has been absent in Eastern European politics but begins to be deployed through a myriad of relations. • The analysis warns against essentialising the emerging discourses between Eastern and Western Europe.
On the causes and consequences of unregulated suburbanization in the hinterland of Bratislava: ca... more On the causes and consequences of unregulated suburbanization in the hinterland of Bratislava: case study of Chorvátsky Grob Chorvátsky Grob is one of the municipalities most exposed to suburbanization
processes in Slovakia. The spontaneous and unrestrained construction has brought a number of problems, which debase the quality of life in this locality. The aim of this article is to point to the negative impact of new construction, to the mechanism which led to the birth of an extensive suburb and the roles of individual actors,
especially that of the local government. The incompetent and inefficient approach of the local government also supported by the unclear legal situation has allowed investors to build a suburb with inadequate infrastructure and lacking any spatial links. It is important to point to such a problematic trend because the further planned construction may change Chorvátsky Grob into the biggest settlement in the hinterland of Bratislava.
Production of the built environment in the postsocialist city of Bratislava: conditions, dynamics... more Production of the built environment in the postsocialist city of Bratislava: conditions, dynamics, and spatial manifestation In this article, we focuse on the set of institutional and social changes with effects on the production dynamics of the built environment, represented by residential and commercial (administrative and retail) spaces. The second aim of the paper is to analyse the spatial pattern of the new production, which has transformed Bratislava’s urban environment.
Neoliberalism as an ideology, actually existing neoliberalism and the city: the case of Bratislav... more Neoliberalism as an ideology, actually existing neoliberalism and the city: the case of Bratislava
Neoliberalism represents a key word for thinking about the dynamics of capitalism since the 70´s and can be used as an analytical tool that allows linking discussions of global economic changes to transformations at local scales. The key tenets of neoliberal ideology are discussed in the present study, including the fundamental reconceptualization of the position and the role of the state, as well as general aspects of actual executions of ideologically inspired and legitimized institutional and regulatory restructuring (neoliberalization). Important political-economic and socio-spatial implications of this transformation include "rescaling" of the geographies of governance. The empirical part of the study analyses the changing role and capacity of the Bratislava government. The fundamental fiscal problem of the local government is caused by limited possibilities of obtaining revenues. Needed resources are then in practice acquired by substantial privatization of publicly owned real estate. Apart from the obvious long-term unsustainability of the fiscal structure, depending on inheritance sell-out, an important adverse comes with reducing strategic capacities in the urban development. In the environment of underdeveloped planning and building regulation institutions, this leads to a shift to an "opportunity-led planning" which represents a change in planning practice away from the original goal of comprehensive control and management of urban development to (often opaque) procedures allowing a partial implementation of development initiatives. The result is a specific form of „entrepreneurial city", based on a symbiotic relationship between real estate capital and the local political elite, leaving other stakeholders only poorly empowered.
The aim of the publication is to analyze whether there is any Visegrad commonly shared identity o... more The aim of the publication is to analyze whether there is any Visegrad commonly shared identity or not and what could be the integrative factor of the Visegrad Group. The authors of the publication cover the following topics – historical identities; historical memory; economic cohesion and the level of economic cooperation of the V4 states; the role of the Visegrad topics in the university education and the political culture of the V4 states.
The publication shows that the Visegrad cooperation is still based on the interests rather than on the commonly shared identity. However, the citizens of V4 countries already perceive Visegrad as a relevant and meaningful regional group. The fact that Visegrad is considered by the domestic political elites as well as by the political elites abroad as a “brand” or “mark” has a significant contribution to the construction of the regional identity. However, still the motivation of the political leaders to develop the Visegrad cooperation is more pragmatic than based on the awareness of belonging together. The external factors (the EU, gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine in January 2009) and their demand for response still have more efficient impact on the strengthening of V4 cooperation compared to the pressure from inside. V4 could be regarded as more successful project of transition and integration compared to the rest of post-communist states in Central and East Europe both from political and economic perspective. However, there are still substantial differences in the level of economic development, impact of crisis on the V4 states economies, in the living standards, as well as in the political cultures and patterns of political behaviour of citizens. The region of Central and East Europe, including Visegrad, still remains a periphery of the EU, although the EU membership of V4 countries and generally the EU presence in the entire region acts as a factor of stability and contributes to its de-peripheralization. The significant trend for the Visegrad societies is the decreasing level of democracy and growing support of authoritarianism in the region. The de-democratization is not purely the result of sophisticated political programs of certain parts of Visegrad political elites, but it is a result of subconscious practice and pragmatically formulated short-term political targets. However, Visegrad is still a zone of stability, compared to South, South East and East Europe, in part because of the more successful reforms in 1990s and higher efficiency of governance. The peripheralization and marginalization still remains a certain threat for the V4 and Central Europe in general. Such threats are not only the results of the economic or political infrastructure inherited from the Communist past, but their sources consist in some domestic policies implemented since the political changes at the turn of 1980s and 1990s. The improvement of the efficiency of the government’s engagement in the economy is highly recommended. The changes are required in the regional policy as well in order to push the subnational territorial units to formulate their own autonomous approaches to regional development in order to overcome the regional disparities. A significant gap still persists between the “old EU members” and Central European states, including V4, in the financing of the education, science and welfare system. The underdevelopment of these branches could have a negative impact on the future of democracy in the entire region of Central and East Europe.
Content
Introduction (Juraj Marušiak)
Chapter 1 Historical Dimension of Mutual Relationships of Visegrad Members (Zdeněk Veselý)
Chapter 2 Regional Trajectories and Regional Policies in V4 Region: Consequences of Scalar Restructuring of Neoliberal Globalization (Pavel Šuška)
Chapter 3 Economic Legitimacy of Visegrad Group (Franjo Štiblar)
Chapter 4 Precipices beneath Summits? The Visegrad Cooperation Seen from Middle Policy Levels (Artur Wołek)
Chapter 5 Mental Map of the V4 Group or How Do We Perceive Each Other? (Oľga Gyárfášová)
Chapter 6 The Visegrad Topic in University Education (Andor Mészáros)
Chapter 7 V4 at a Crossroad? (Svetozár Krno)
Chapter 8 Visegrad Group - an Unstable Periphery of the European Union? (Juraj Marušiak)
Urban and rural environments are often perceived as different social worlds with their own econom... more Urban and rural environments are often perceived as different social worlds with their own economic, social and cultural relations. One of the encounters of such worlds would then be a suburbanization process that turns the countryside into the hinterland of our cities. In this paper, we will focus on changes in the political behavior of the population in connection with this process, in which not only the physical environment of the conurbations is transformed, but also the social and cultural characteristics of the local population significantly change. Using the data from the elections to the National Council of the Slovak Republic in the years 1998 – 2016, we will mainly monitor changes in support of the urbanest parties, which to a certain extent reflect the changing social structure in this area. Although the paper deals with only one specific aspect of suburbanization, we believe that understanding and interpreting changes in electoral behavior is part of the mosaic of complex social and cultural transformation of the urban hinterland.
Highlights
• The paper reinvigorates post-socialism as a conceptual tool for addressing relationa... more Highlights • The paper reinvigorates post-socialism as a conceptual tool for addressing relational geographies of Europe. • It proposes a dialogic approach, based on contingency, ontological openness and rejection of teleology and essentialism. • This is illustrated in a critical discourse analysis of urban activism in Bratislava, Slovakia. • The notion of community has been absent in Eastern European politics but begins to be deployed through a myriad of relations. • The analysis warns against essentialising the emerging discourses between Eastern and Western Europe.
On the causes and consequences of unregulated suburbanization in the hinterland of Bratislava: ca... more On the causes and consequences of unregulated suburbanization in the hinterland of Bratislava: case study of Chorvátsky Grob Chorvátsky Grob is one of the municipalities most exposed to suburbanization
processes in Slovakia. The spontaneous and unrestrained construction has brought a number of problems, which debase the quality of life in this locality. The aim of this article is to point to the negative impact of new construction, to the mechanism which led to the birth of an extensive suburb and the roles of individual actors,
especially that of the local government. The incompetent and inefficient approach of the local government also supported by the unclear legal situation has allowed investors to build a suburb with inadequate infrastructure and lacking any spatial links. It is important to point to such a problematic trend because the further planned construction may change Chorvátsky Grob into the biggest settlement in the hinterland of Bratislava.
Production of the built environment in the postsocialist city of Bratislava: conditions, dynamics... more Production of the built environment in the postsocialist city of Bratislava: conditions, dynamics, and spatial manifestation In this article, we focuse on the set of institutional and social changes with effects on the production dynamics of the built environment, represented by residential and commercial (administrative and retail) spaces. The second aim of the paper is to analyse the spatial pattern of the new production, which has transformed Bratislava’s urban environment.
Neoliberalism as an ideology, actually existing neoliberalism and the city: the case of Bratislav... more Neoliberalism as an ideology, actually existing neoliberalism and the city: the case of Bratislava
Neoliberalism represents a key word for thinking about the dynamics of capitalism since the 70´s and can be used as an analytical tool that allows linking discussions of global economic changes to transformations at local scales. The key tenets of neoliberal ideology are discussed in the present study, including the fundamental reconceptualization of the position and the role of the state, as well as general aspects of actual executions of ideologically inspired and legitimized institutional and regulatory restructuring (neoliberalization). Important political-economic and socio-spatial implications of this transformation include "rescaling" of the geographies of governance. The empirical part of the study analyses the changing role and capacity of the Bratislava government. The fundamental fiscal problem of the local government is caused by limited possibilities of obtaining revenues. Needed resources are then in practice acquired by substantial privatization of publicly owned real estate. Apart from the obvious long-term unsustainability of the fiscal structure, depending on inheritance sell-out, an important adverse comes with reducing strategic capacities in the urban development. In the environment of underdeveloped planning and building regulation institutions, this leads to a shift to an "opportunity-led planning" which represents a change in planning practice away from the original goal of comprehensive control and management of urban development to (often opaque) procedures allowing a partial implementation of development initiatives. The result is a specific form of „entrepreneurial city", based on a symbiotic relationship between real estate capital and the local political elite, leaving other stakeholders only poorly empowered.
The aim of the publication is to analyze whether there is any Visegrad commonly shared identity o... more The aim of the publication is to analyze whether there is any Visegrad commonly shared identity or not and what could be the integrative factor of the Visegrad Group. The authors of the publication cover the following topics – historical identities; historical memory; economic cohesion and the level of economic cooperation of the V4 states; the role of the Visegrad topics in the university education and the political culture of the V4 states.
The publication shows that the Visegrad cooperation is still based on the interests rather than on the commonly shared identity. However, the citizens of V4 countries already perceive Visegrad as a relevant and meaningful regional group. The fact that Visegrad is considered by the domestic political elites as well as by the political elites abroad as a “brand” or “mark” has a significant contribution to the construction of the regional identity. However, still the motivation of the political leaders to develop the Visegrad cooperation is more pragmatic than based on the awareness of belonging together. The external factors (the EU, gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine in January 2009) and their demand for response still have more efficient impact on the strengthening of V4 cooperation compared to the pressure from inside. V4 could be regarded as more successful project of transition and integration compared to the rest of post-communist states in Central and East Europe both from political and economic perspective. However, there are still substantial differences in the level of economic development, impact of crisis on the V4 states economies, in the living standards, as well as in the political cultures and patterns of political behaviour of citizens. The region of Central and East Europe, including Visegrad, still remains a periphery of the EU, although the EU membership of V4 countries and generally the EU presence in the entire region acts as a factor of stability and contributes to its de-peripheralization. The significant trend for the Visegrad societies is the decreasing level of democracy and growing support of authoritarianism in the region. The de-democratization is not purely the result of sophisticated political programs of certain parts of Visegrad political elites, but it is a result of subconscious practice and pragmatically formulated short-term political targets. However, Visegrad is still a zone of stability, compared to South, South East and East Europe, in part because of the more successful reforms in 1990s and higher efficiency of governance. The peripheralization and marginalization still remains a certain threat for the V4 and Central Europe in general. Such threats are not only the results of the economic or political infrastructure inherited from the Communist past, but their sources consist in some domestic policies implemented since the political changes at the turn of 1980s and 1990s. The improvement of the efficiency of the government’s engagement in the economy is highly recommended. The changes are required in the regional policy as well in order to push the subnational territorial units to formulate their own autonomous approaches to regional development in order to overcome the regional disparities. A significant gap still persists between the “old EU members” and Central European states, including V4, in the financing of the education, science and welfare system. The underdevelopment of these branches could have a negative impact on the future of democracy in the entire region of Central and East Europe.
Content
Introduction (Juraj Marušiak)
Chapter 1 Historical Dimension of Mutual Relationships of Visegrad Members (Zdeněk Veselý)
Chapter 2 Regional Trajectories and Regional Policies in V4 Region: Consequences of Scalar Restructuring of Neoliberal Globalization (Pavel Šuška)
Chapter 3 Economic Legitimacy of Visegrad Group (Franjo Štiblar)
Chapter 4 Precipices beneath Summits? The Visegrad Cooperation Seen from Middle Policy Levels (Artur Wołek)
Chapter 5 Mental Map of the V4 Group or How Do We Perceive Each Other? (Oľga Gyárfášová)
Chapter 6 The Visegrad Topic in University Education (Andor Mészáros)
Chapter 7 V4 at a Crossroad? (Svetozár Krno)
Chapter 8 Visegrad Group - an Unstable Periphery of the European Union? (Juraj Marušiak)
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Papers by Pavel Šuška
• The paper reinvigorates post-socialism as a conceptual tool for addressing relational geographies of Europe.
• It proposes a dialogic approach, based on contingency, ontological openness and rejection of teleology and essentialism.
• This is illustrated in a critical discourse analysis of urban activism in Bratislava, Slovakia.
• The notion of community has been absent in Eastern European politics but begins to be deployed through a myriad of relations.
• The analysis warns against essentialising the emerging discourses between Eastern and Western Europe.
processes in Slovakia. The spontaneous and unrestrained construction has brought a number of problems, which debase the quality of life in this locality. The aim of this article is to point to the negative impact of new construction, to the mechanism which led to the birth of an extensive suburb and the roles of individual actors,
especially that of the local government. The incompetent and inefficient approach of the local government also supported by the unclear legal situation has allowed investors to build a suburb with inadequate infrastructure and lacking any spatial links. It is important to point to such a problematic trend because the further planned construction may change Chorvátsky Grob into the biggest settlement in the hinterland of Bratislava.
Neoliberalism represents a key word for thinking about the dynamics of capitalism since the 70´s and can be used as an analytical tool that allows linking discussions of global economic changes to transformations at local scales. The key tenets of neoliberal ideology are discussed in the present study, including the fundamental reconceptualization of the position and the role of the state, as well as general aspects of actual executions of ideologically inspired and legitimized institutional and regulatory restructuring (neoliberalization). Important political-economic and socio-spatial implications of this transformation include "rescaling" of the geographies of governance. The empirical part of the study analyses the changing role and capacity of the Bratislava government. The fundamental fiscal problem of the local government is caused by limited possibilities of obtaining revenues. Needed resources are then in practice acquired by substantial privatization of publicly owned real estate. Apart from the obvious long-term unsustainability of the fiscal structure, depending on inheritance sell-out, an important adverse comes with reducing strategic capacities in the urban development. In the environment of underdeveloped planning and building regulation institutions, this leads to a shift to an "opportunity-led planning" which represents a change in planning practice away from the original goal of comprehensive control and management of urban development to (often opaque) procedures allowing a partial implementation of development initiatives. The result is a specific form of „entrepreneurial city", based on a symbiotic relationship between real estate capital and the local political elite, leaving other stakeholders only poorly empowered.
Books by Pavel Šuška
economic cooperation of the V4 states; the role of the Visegrad topics in the university education and the political culture of the V4 states.
The publication shows that the Visegrad cooperation is still based on the interests rather than on the commonly shared identity. However, the citizens of V4 countries already perceive Visegrad as a relevant and meaningful regional group. The fact that Visegrad is considered by the domestic political
elites as well as by the political elites abroad as a “brand” or “mark” has a significant contribution to the construction of the regional identity. However, still the motivation of the political leaders to develop the Visegrad cooperation is more pragmatic than based on the awareness of belonging together. The
external factors (the EU, gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine in January 2009) and their demand for response still have more efficient impact on the strengthening of V4 cooperation compared to the pressure from inside.
V4 could be regarded as more successful project of transition and integration compared to the rest of post-communist states in Central and East Europe both from political and economic perspective. However, there are still substantial differences in the level of economic development, impact of crisis
on the V4 states economies, in the living standards, as well as in the political cultures and patterns of political behaviour of citizens. The region of Central and East Europe, including Visegrad, still remains a periphery of the EU, although the EU membership of V4 countries and generally the EU presence in the entire region acts as a factor of stability and contributes to its de-peripheralization. The significant trend for the Visegrad societies is the decreasing level of democracy and growing support of authoritarianism in the region. The de-democratization is not purely the result of sophisticated political programs of certain parts of Visegrad political elites, but it is a result of subconscious practice and pragmatically formulated short-term political targets. However, Visegrad is still a zone of stability, compared to South, South East and East Europe, in part because of the more successful reforms in 1990s and higher efficiency of governance. The peripheralization and marginalization still remains a certain threat for the V4 and Central Europe in general. Such threats are not only the results of the economic or political infrastructure inherited from the Communist past, but their sources consist in some domestic policies implemented since the political changes at the turn of 1980s and 1990s. The improvement of the efficiency of the government’s engagement in the economy is highly recommended. The changes are required in the regional policy as well in order to push the subnational territorial units to formulate their own autonomous approaches to regional development in order to overcome the regional disparities. A significant gap still persists between the “old EU members” and Central European states, including V4, in the financing of the education, science and welfare system. The underdevelopment of these branches could have a negative impact on the future of democracy in the entire region of Central and East Europe.
Content
Introduction (Juraj Marušiak)
Chapter 1
Historical Dimension of Mutual Relationships of Visegrad Members (Zdeněk Veselý)
Chapter 2
Regional Trajectories and Regional Policies in V4 Region: Consequences of Scalar
Restructuring of Neoliberal Globalization (Pavel Šuška)
Chapter 3
Economic Legitimacy of Visegrad Group (Franjo Štiblar)
Chapter 4
Precipices beneath Summits? The Visegrad Cooperation Seen from Middle Policy Levels (Artur Wołek)
Chapter 5
Mental Map of the V4 Group or How Do We Perceive Each Other? (Oľga Gyárfášová)
Chapter 6
The Visegrad Topic in University Education (Andor Mészáros)
Chapter 7
V4 at a Crossroad? (Svetozár Krno)
Chapter 8
Visegrad Group - an Unstable Periphery of the European Union? (Juraj Marušiak)
Concluding Remarks (Juraj Marušiak)
• The paper reinvigorates post-socialism as a conceptual tool for addressing relational geographies of Europe.
• It proposes a dialogic approach, based on contingency, ontological openness and rejection of teleology and essentialism.
• This is illustrated in a critical discourse analysis of urban activism in Bratislava, Slovakia.
• The notion of community has been absent in Eastern European politics but begins to be deployed through a myriad of relations.
• The analysis warns against essentialising the emerging discourses between Eastern and Western Europe.
processes in Slovakia. The spontaneous and unrestrained construction has brought a number of problems, which debase the quality of life in this locality. The aim of this article is to point to the negative impact of new construction, to the mechanism which led to the birth of an extensive suburb and the roles of individual actors,
especially that of the local government. The incompetent and inefficient approach of the local government also supported by the unclear legal situation has allowed investors to build a suburb with inadequate infrastructure and lacking any spatial links. It is important to point to such a problematic trend because the further planned construction may change Chorvátsky Grob into the biggest settlement in the hinterland of Bratislava.
Neoliberalism represents a key word for thinking about the dynamics of capitalism since the 70´s and can be used as an analytical tool that allows linking discussions of global economic changes to transformations at local scales. The key tenets of neoliberal ideology are discussed in the present study, including the fundamental reconceptualization of the position and the role of the state, as well as general aspects of actual executions of ideologically inspired and legitimized institutional and regulatory restructuring (neoliberalization). Important political-economic and socio-spatial implications of this transformation include "rescaling" of the geographies of governance. The empirical part of the study analyses the changing role and capacity of the Bratislava government. The fundamental fiscal problem of the local government is caused by limited possibilities of obtaining revenues. Needed resources are then in practice acquired by substantial privatization of publicly owned real estate. Apart from the obvious long-term unsustainability of the fiscal structure, depending on inheritance sell-out, an important adverse comes with reducing strategic capacities in the urban development. In the environment of underdeveloped planning and building regulation institutions, this leads to a shift to an "opportunity-led planning" which represents a change in planning practice away from the original goal of comprehensive control and management of urban development to (often opaque) procedures allowing a partial implementation of development initiatives. The result is a specific form of „entrepreneurial city", based on a symbiotic relationship between real estate capital and the local political elite, leaving other stakeholders only poorly empowered.
economic cooperation of the V4 states; the role of the Visegrad topics in the university education and the political culture of the V4 states.
The publication shows that the Visegrad cooperation is still based on the interests rather than on the commonly shared identity. However, the citizens of V4 countries already perceive Visegrad as a relevant and meaningful regional group. The fact that Visegrad is considered by the domestic political
elites as well as by the political elites abroad as a “brand” or “mark” has a significant contribution to the construction of the regional identity. However, still the motivation of the political leaders to develop the Visegrad cooperation is more pragmatic than based on the awareness of belonging together. The
external factors (the EU, gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine in January 2009) and their demand for response still have more efficient impact on the strengthening of V4 cooperation compared to the pressure from inside.
V4 could be regarded as more successful project of transition and integration compared to the rest of post-communist states in Central and East Europe both from political and economic perspective. However, there are still substantial differences in the level of economic development, impact of crisis
on the V4 states economies, in the living standards, as well as in the political cultures and patterns of political behaviour of citizens. The region of Central and East Europe, including Visegrad, still remains a periphery of the EU, although the EU membership of V4 countries and generally the EU presence in the entire region acts as a factor of stability and contributes to its de-peripheralization. The significant trend for the Visegrad societies is the decreasing level of democracy and growing support of authoritarianism in the region. The de-democratization is not purely the result of sophisticated political programs of certain parts of Visegrad political elites, but it is a result of subconscious practice and pragmatically formulated short-term political targets. However, Visegrad is still a zone of stability, compared to South, South East and East Europe, in part because of the more successful reforms in 1990s and higher efficiency of governance. The peripheralization and marginalization still remains a certain threat for the V4 and Central Europe in general. Such threats are not only the results of the economic or political infrastructure inherited from the Communist past, but their sources consist in some domestic policies implemented since the political changes at the turn of 1980s and 1990s. The improvement of the efficiency of the government’s engagement in the economy is highly recommended. The changes are required in the regional policy as well in order to push the subnational territorial units to formulate their own autonomous approaches to regional development in order to overcome the regional disparities. A significant gap still persists between the “old EU members” and Central European states, including V4, in the financing of the education, science and welfare system. The underdevelopment of these branches could have a negative impact on the future of democracy in the entire region of Central and East Europe.
Content
Introduction (Juraj Marušiak)
Chapter 1
Historical Dimension of Mutual Relationships of Visegrad Members (Zdeněk Veselý)
Chapter 2
Regional Trajectories and Regional Policies in V4 Region: Consequences of Scalar
Restructuring of Neoliberal Globalization (Pavel Šuška)
Chapter 3
Economic Legitimacy of Visegrad Group (Franjo Štiblar)
Chapter 4
Precipices beneath Summits? The Visegrad Cooperation Seen from Middle Policy Levels (Artur Wołek)
Chapter 5
Mental Map of the V4 Group or How Do We Perceive Each Other? (Oľga Gyárfášová)
Chapter 6
The Visegrad Topic in University Education (Andor Mészáros)
Chapter 7
V4 at a Crossroad? (Svetozár Krno)
Chapter 8
Visegrad Group - an Unstable Periphery of the European Union? (Juraj Marušiak)
Concluding Remarks (Juraj Marušiak)