Network Will Strengthen Institute’s Links
With Central European Think-Tanks
WASHINGTON, DC March 21, 2013 – The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) announces the launch of the U.S.-Visegrád Initiative Network — a cooperative platform for dialogue and coordination between CEPA and partner think-tanks in Central Europe with the common goal of strengthening U.S.-Central European relations.
The Network, which is part of the institute’s U.S.-Visegrád Initiative, will create a platform for long-term, structured collaboration with prominent regional think-tanks, including the Polish Institute for International Affairs (PISM), the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA), the Czech Institute for International Relations (IIR) and EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in Prague. The Network represents a unique transatlantic think-tank axis that will bolster the efforts of both sides in evaluating the prospects for deeper regional cooperation within the Visegrád Group (V4) format, and its potential impact on the transatlantic relationship.
“Our partners in the U.S.-Visegrád Initiative Network have long been close friends of CEPA and share our institute’s deepest values and aspirations for the countries of Central Europe,” said CEPA’s Robert Kron, Director of the Initiative. “The Network will allow us to deepen our institutes’ collaboration in promoting a strong Visegrád region with close ties to the United States not only intellectually, but also through the crucial human dimension that will remain of foundational importance for maintaining a strong transatlantic link in the years ahead.”
CEPA launched the U.S.-Visegrád Initiative in January 2013, with the objective of creating a Washington-based platform to examine how the Visegrád states — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — can maximize their cooperation within the Euro-Atlantic framework in order to positively shape the transatlantic policy landscape. Further, the Initiative assesses what role the United States can play in supporting and promoting deeper regional coordination as a new avenue for strengthening the wider U.S.-Central European relationship. CEPA believes that with thought-leadership and targeted policy support, the United States can support the Visegrád states in their mission of becoming an ever more important strategic player in the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) and the wider European neighborhood. – CEPA