The Evolution of the Approach of the Visegrad Group to Security from 1991 to 2017

The Visegrad group, a political group with security-oriented purposes, consists of four countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The group was established on February 15, 1991 and was formed in the context of Eastern Europe that has got its own geographical and geopolitical structure.  Established organizations of the Visegrad group are: the Presidency, Visegrad International Fund, The conference of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Council of Ambassadors, special working group such as Working Group on Energy, Visegrad Patent Institute, and Joint Battle Group; the latter two are soon to be officially established.  The security approach of this group can be divided into two periods; 1991 to 2004, and after 2004. In the beginning, Visegrad sought security from NATO and EU, prioritizing military and political security (which is mentioned as hard security in this essay). After 2004, the time in which all the Visegrad member states had joined NATO and EU, Visegrad can move toward security issues such as environmental problems, migrants, preserving intellectual property, fighting against terrorism, and energy security.  In the process of Visegrad's moving towards security, it is possible to observe a trend from cooperation towards coordination.