Visegrád countries’ engagement in ASEAN from 2011 and their prospect in the region: the cases of Hungary and Poland

Abstract

Hungary and Poland have addressed Asia-Pacific countries in their foreign policy strategy since the early 2000s. However, the European financial crisis in 2008 and the wave of Euroscepticism have influenced both countries to seek alliances outside their traditional European trade partners. One of their potential partners in the Asia-Pacific is ASEAN, due to its economic and political importance in the region. As EU members, Hungary and Poland have to pursue their engagement with ASEAN with both the national foreign policy strategy based on their domestic interests and under the EU foreign and security policy. The aim of this dissertation is to explain the foreign policy strategy of Hungarian and Polish governments and their achievements in ASEAN from 2011. The findings from national and EU foreign policy analyses reveal that the achievement of both countries in ASEAN is minimal. The reasons are that ASEAN receives low priority to both countries' foreign policy, and both countries lack sufficient understanding of the region. This results in vague national policy direction and modest economic and political engagement. On the other hand, the EU foreign policy strategy includes ASEAN as a strategic partner and engages with it more intensively as a bloc. The Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Vietnam are among the important milestones of the EU external relations, in which Hungary and Poland shall rely on and show more effective support to increase their visibility in ASEAN.