The Visegrád Group is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, economic, cultural and energy affairs, and to further their integration with the EU. All four states are also members of the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Bucharest Nine (B9).
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, whilst its western boundary is defined in various ways. Most definitions include the countries of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania while less restrictive definitions may also include some or all of the Balkans, the Baltic states, the Caucasus and the Visegrád group.
The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.
Intermarium was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusion of neighbouring states. The proposed multinational polity would have incorporated territories lying between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Seas, hence the name Intermarium.
The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union (FSU) or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they existed as Union Republics, which were the top-level constituents of the Soviet Union. There are 15 post-Soviet states in total: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Each of these countries succeeded their respective Union Republics: the Armenian SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR, the Byelorussian SSR, the Estonian SSR, the Georgian SSR, the Kazakh SSR, the Kirghiz SSR, the Latvian SSR, the Lithuanian SSR, the Moldavian SSR, the Russian SFSR, the Tajik SSR, the Turkmen SSR, the Ukrainian SSR, and the Uzbek SSR. In Russia, the term "near abroad" is sometimes used to refer to the post-Soviet states other than Russia.
Poland and Lithuania established diplomatic relations from the 13th century, after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under king Mindaugas acquired some of the territory of Rus' and thus established a border with the then-fragmented Kingdom of Poland. Polish–Lithuanian relations subsequently improved, ultimately leading to a personal union between the two states. From the mid-16th to the late-18th century Poland and Lithuania merged to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a state that was dissolved following their partition by Austria, Prussia and Russia. After the two states regained independence following the First World War, Polish–Lithuanian relations steadily worsened due to rising nationalist sentiments. Competing claims to the Vilnius region led to armed conflict and deteriorating relations in the interwar period. During the Second World War Polish and Lithuanian territories were occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but relations between Poles and Lithuanians remained hostile. Following the end of World War II, both Poland and Lithuania found themselves in the Eastern Bloc, Poland as a Soviet satellite state, Lithuania as a Soviet republic. With the fall of communism relations between the two countries were reestablished. Since then relations have been friendly and akin to strategic partnership in defence and security.
East-Central Europe is the region between German-, Hungarian-, and West Slavic-speaking Europe and the East Slavic countries of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Those lands are described as situated "between two": "between two worlds, between two stages, between two futures".
Estonia–Poland relations are the bilateral relations between Estonia and Poland. Both nations are members of the EU, NATO, OECD, OSCE, Bucharest Nine, TSI, United Nations, COE, CBSS, HELCOM and WTO. The two countries became members of the EU in 2004.
Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade "TLATAS" is a multinational brigade countries of the Lublin Triangle consisting of units from the Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian armies. Other countries are free to join the trilateral agreement. An agreement on its creation was signed on November 16, 2009. The brigade was to reach operational status in autumn 2011, but it was delayed; a January 2012 estimate put that date at some time in 2013. The unit was finally formed on September 19, 2014. In July 2015 the defense ministers of the three countries signed an agreement on the operation of the unit.
Denmark–Lithuania relations refers to the historical and current diplomatic relations between Denmark and Lithuania. Lithuania has an embassy in Copenhagen, and Denmark has an embassy in Vilnius. Denmark first recognized Lithuania in 1921 and again on 28 February 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. Diplomatic relations were established on 24 August 1991. The Danish recognition in 1991 has been described as "extremely important for Lithuania". Both countries are members of the European Union, NATO, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Council of Europe.
The Giedroyc doctrine or Giedroyc–Mieroszewski doctrine was a political doctrine that urged reconciliation among Central and Eastern European countries. It was developed by postwar Polish émigrés, and was named for Jerzy Giedroyc, a Polish émigré publicist, with significant contributions by Juliusz Mieroszewski for whom it is also sometimes named.
The Visegrád Battlegroup or V4 EU Battlegroup is an EU Battlegroup led by Poland, in which the other fellow Visegrád Group countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary participate. It was on standby from 1 January until 30 June 2016 and from 1 July until 31 December 2019. It is scheduled to go on standby in the first half of 2023.
The Three Seas Initiative, known also as the Baltic, Adriatic, Black Sea (BABS) Initiative or simply as the Three Seas, is a forum of thirteen states, in the European Union, running along a north–south axis from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic and Black Seas in Central and Eastern Europe. The Initiative aims to create a regional dialogue on questions affecting the member states.
The Lublin Triangle is a regional alliance of three European countries – Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine – for the purposes of strengthening mutual military, cultural, economic and political cooperation and supporting Ukraine's integration into the European Union and NATO. The Lublin Triangle initiative invokes the integrative heritage of the 1569 Union of Lublin.
Polish irredentism or Greater Poland is a term applied to certain currents within Polish nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Poles, emphasising the ethnicity of those Poles living outside Poland. In the political sense, though, the term refers to an irredentist belief in the equivalence between the territorial scope of the Polish people and that of the Polish state.
The Bucharest Nine or the Bucharest Format is an organization founded on 4 November 2015 in Bucharest, Romania, at the initiative of the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis and the President of Poland Andrzej Duda during a bilateral meeting between them. Its members are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Its appearance was mainly a result of a perceived aggressive attitude from Russia following the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its posterior intervention in eastern Ukraine both in 2014. All members of the B9 were either part of the former Soviet Union (USSR) or members of the defunct Soviet-led Warsaw Pact.
The British–Polish–Ukrainian trilateral pact is an agreement between Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom announced in Kyiv on 17 February 2022 by Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine, and Liz Truss, Foreign Secretary for the United Kingdom. The pact serves to improve cyber security, increase energy security, and counter disinformation. The creation of the new London-Warsaw-Kyiv axis took place against the background of Russian military buildup before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the active supply of weapons by the United Kingdom and Poland to Ukraine.
The Suwałki Gap, also known as the Suwałki corridor ( ), is a sparsely populated area around the border between Lithuania and Poland, and centres on the shortest path between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast on the Polish side of the border. Named after the Polish town of Suwałki, this choke point has become of great strategic and military importance since Poland and the Baltic states joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Ethnofuturism is an artistic and philosophic movement originating from Estonia that has gone through different phases. During its initial phase from 1989 to 1994, it was an avant-garde artistic movement with emphasis on futurism and characterized by parody, absurdity and provocative statements. In the second phase, starting with the First Ethnofuturist Manifesto in 1994, the focus shifted to the ethnic elements, foregrounding folklore, borealism and the issues of the Finno-Ugric peoples.
The Warsaw Security Forum (WSF) is an international conference focusing on security and defense issues. It takes place annually in Warsaw, Poland, and brings together politicians, experts and business representatives to discuss current security challenges and strategies.
