Despite beginning his speech with “I am not a geopolitician”, former President and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus gave an exciting overview of the contemporary geopolitical situation of the region at the V4 “Future of Europe” conference.
During his address, Klaus talked about the end of western hegemony, the future of the Visegrád Group and the potential threats to Europe.
Klaus kicked off the geopolitical panel by raising the most important questions regarding the current geopolitical situation of our region.
Raising the question of the Merkel-Macron-Juncker tandem, “the trio” as the former Czech president put it, “should they be allowed to speak for our continent?” Klaus asked. “I think no,” he said, adding that “a continent doesn’t speak, only people speak.”
On the disastrous state of the European Union, Václav Klaus said that “everyone knows that the European integration is in crisis, therefore Western hegemony is evidently over.”
He said Europe is “weak and shaky” because of the prevailing EU ideology, which “systematically undermines” the traditional, historically proven pillars of Europe and deliberately strives to deconstruct the nation state, the family and even the man.
Switching his focus to the international geopolitical arena Václav Klaus listed the main players in our region. Even though “Russia is back” and actively pursues its own interests, Klaus believes it’s not a threat to the Visegrád Group.
“The United States of America is infected by the virus of progressivism,” he said. While “China is here, and China is here to stay,” he added.
At the end of his address, Klaus served some food for thought. “Even though the V4 nominally originated more than 25 years ago, has it become a real political player? Is the V4 sufficiently homogeneous in its interests? Is the V4 able to pursue its own policies in the post-Lisbon European Union?”