Eurointegration and europeanization as innovative goals of political and socio-economic development of the Visegrad Countries: features and stages of implementation

Abstract

The article is devoted to analyzing the features and stages of the implementation of Eurointegration and Europeanization as innovative goals of political and socio-economic development of the countries of the Visegrad Group. It was argued that Western countries played an important role in reforming and political and socio-economic development of the Visegrad countries. The author proved that the support of the countries of the region in their socio-economic and political modernization and democratic transformations, on the one hand, is the innovative goal of political and socio-economic development of the countries of the Visegrad Group, on the other – the goal of foreign policy of the West. The researcher also singled out the stages of Eurointegration and Europeanization of the Visegrad Group countries. It has been established that the importance of Eurointegration and Europeanization of the Visegrad Group countries during all years of transformation were subordinated to the implementation of the modernization strategy and the fulfillment of formal criteria for the EU membership. As a result, Eurointegration and Europeanization processes have become a kind of “catalyst” and innovative logic not only for political and socio-economic development, but also for the formation of civil society infrastructure.