"Poland hasn't had such a chance for a thousand years." Together with the Czechs, we can catch up with Germany

• Polish-Czech contacts are the axis of Central European cooperation. This is the opinion of panelists participating in the European Economic Congress .
• According to the participants of the panel " Cooperation in the Centre of Europe", the driving force of the technological development of the region may be the arms industry.
• Ukraine should be included in the structures of the Visegrad Group. This would mean the final and faster entry of this country into the European Union.

Břetislav Dančak, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Poland, recalled the difficulties in the development of Polish-Czech contacts in recent years.

- First, there was the pandemic - said Dančak. - It was a crisis that hit the openness of the economy. After the pandemic, there was Russian aggression against Ukraine. However, these problems did not significantly affect our mutual economic relations. Joint support for Ukraine strengthened political ties. One of the attributes of this cooperation is the increasing level of mutual investments. Mutual trade is also important. It already amounts to EUR 36 billion per year. Poland and the Czech Republic are each other's second economic partner.

Dančak also recalled that the first car in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was built in the Czech Republic. This would be proof of his country's technological advancement. The Czech Republic is currently moving away from a coal-based energy monoculture. In 2050, half of the country's energy is to come from nuclear power plants. It is already around 40 percent.

The ambassador sees the need for cooperation between specialists – nuclear engineers from Poland and the Czech Republic. As he emphasized, being an engineer in this specialty is a lifelong choice. Therefore, each specialist should be used effectively. According to Břetislav Dančak, educating specialists is a future-oriented decision for each country. The more highly qualified specialists, the greater the certainty that in the future no one will be looking for cheap labor in the Czech Republic or Poland.

In turn, Vit Dostal, executive director of the Czech Association for International Affairs (AMO), is very hopeful that the Visegrad Group will receive a new impetus to act in connection with the Polish presidency of the EU.

- We do have different points of view among the group's countries, but it still exists. Currently, it consists of intensive bilateral contacts. For example, there are regular meetings of representatives of the Polish and Czech authorities. The challenges of the current times are the issues of investment in defense and digitalization - emphasized Vit Dostal.

People-to-people contacts are the foundation for further cooperation

According to him, Poland has become a country that is spoken of with sympathy by Czechs. Czech students are eager to choose Polish universities as their place of education. The same goes for Poles who would like to study in the Czech Republic. The expanding scholarship system is supposed to help with this.

Adam Eberhardt, deputy director of the East European Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, also spoke about contacts at the level of societies . He agreed with Vit Dostal that the increase in mutual movement of people between Poland and the Czech Republic is very important.

- It is particularly important that Czech tourists have discovered Poland as a country of their own holidays. This trend must be maintained by expanding road and rail connections - he said.

Martin Ehl, an analyst at the daily "Hospodařske noviny" (one of the three main daily newspapers in the Czech Republic), also considers interpersonal relations in Polish-Czech contacts to be very important. According to him , the foundation of this cooperation is the development of mutual transport connections .

- The infrastructure should be integrated. So that every road in Poland has its continuation in the Czech Republic. The fact that our countries are facing closer integration is even proven by my family example - my daughter plans to study in Poland. Polish universities in Wrocław enjoy great respect among young Czechs. In addition, many Czechs buy houses near Racibórz . And the wealthier ones buy apartments on the Polish Baltic coast - emphasized the expert.

The impact of the international situation on bilateral relations

According to Adam Eberhardt, social polarization in European countries and even the US is reflected in international relations. As the most glaring example, Eberhardt mentioned the mutual perception of Poles and Hungarians. Once, relations were cordial, now they are filled with coldness and distrust, even on an "interpersonal" level.

- There was even a recall of ambassadors from Budapest and Warsaw for consultations - emphasizes Eberhardt. - It is also unknown how the results of the autumn elections in the Czech Republic and the presidential election in Romania will affect these contacts in our region of Europe. However, I hope that these relations will evolve in a positive direction. Because even if politics divide us, there are many common interests.

Economy as the basis for Central European integration

Michal Kořan, CEO of the Global Arena Research Institute (GARI) and Chairman of the Program Council of the Polish-Czech Aviation Association (PCAA), emphasized the need for economic synergy between countries. However, he saw the possibility of not only cooperation, but also competition.

- The topic of economic nationalism is coming back to Europe. These are already global trends - said Koran. - I see the most competition in the development of production technologies. Here, the development of artificial intelligence plays a great role. This will be of particular importance in the most technologically advanced processes - aviation, nuclear energy.

Jan Sechter, Czech diplomat, ambassador of the Czech Republic to Poland in 2008-2013, sees a positive role of integration processes in Central Europe for the Visegrad structures.

- I am a supporter of regional cooperation. So if you build the Central Communication Port , it will affect the entire region. Rail, road or air connections of individual countries with the Polish CPK will be necessary - the diplomat noted.

Sechter emphasized that Americans should not be excluded from cooperation. This is, according to him, the common opinion of all the Visegrad Group countries. At the same time, he added, the more these countries act together towards the Washington administration, the stronger their position will be.

Ukraine is the key to the development of regional cooperation

There was also talk about the need to include Ukraine in the cooperation . Adam Eberhardt emphasized that if we are talking about participating in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian economic substance, we must remember that investments are needed in Ukraine immediately. Even in the devastated energy system.

- Poland remains the main hub of this aid. The reconstruction of the Ukrainian economy is also a great opportunity for Polish and Czech business - said the deputy director of the Eastern Europe Studies.

As he emphasized, the Polish Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and the Polish insurance system – KUKE – are also of great help for business investments.

- Of course, Polish and Czech companies are not giants. Therefore, in the fight for orders, they will have to rely on government guarantees, as well as occupy places on construction sites in border regions - said Adam Eberhardt.

Martin Ehl shares a similar opinion. He believes that the current basis for the economic development of Poland and the Czech Republic may be the defense industry . In addition, this sector may operate in close cooperation with the highly developed Ukrainian defense industry. In Poland, 90 percent of this industry is in the hands of the state. In the Czech Republic, on the contrary, 90 percent of the defense industry is in the hands of private companies. This does not interfere with good, common interests. One of them is cooperation with the defense sector of Slovakia.

- It's a strange design - said the commentator. - Poland supplies ammunition to Ukraine, which is formally imported from the Czech Republic, but is physically produced by factories in Slovakia.

Jan Sechter also stressed the importance of future, close cooperation with Ukraine. Especially in the matter of transport. According to him, one should not expect a quick unblocking of connections to Russia or Belarus. Ukraine is therefore a chance to create a connection node in Kiev with other post-Soviet countries. All the more so because, according to Sechter, the creation of such a network of connections may be financially supported by the bodies of the European Union.

- It is necessary to reconstruct "Visegrad", expanding the bloc to include other countries in the region, with Ukraine at the forefront. This can also be an argument for the fastest possible inclusion of Ukraine in the European community - the Czech diplomat summed up.

The representative of the Polish government, Maria Staszkiewicz, advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance, also spoke about mutual relations between Poland and the Czech Republic.

- I lived in Prague for 15 years, so this bilateral cooperation is very important to me personally. For the first time in 1000 years, we have mutual potential for development , because in the last twenty years our bilateral cooperation was insufficient. We were just getting to know each other. Poland and the Czech Republic face very similar challenges. Both countries are among the richest in the region. However, another leap awaits us - catching up with the richest countries of the traditional West, with Germany at the forefront - said Maria Staszkiewicz.

In her opinion, in order to have a chance for such a jump in income, the financial sector must be supported. A new model of financing technological and energy transformation is necessary. Our countries also have great intellectual potential, thoroughly educated specialists in many technical fields.

In Krakow, the NATO DIANA accelerator operates - with the support of Polish engineers. Other Krakow institutions have decided to join forces to join the development of the NATO network. This is a joint effort of the Krakow Technology Park and the AGH University of Science and Technology. There, technological solutions with dual use are developed for the needs of defense and security.

As Maria Staszkiewicz stated, Polish-Czech cooperation is also necessary in controlling climate change. This is especially true for counteracting floods.

The entire discussion was moderated by Mateusz Gniazdowski from the East European Studies at the University of Warsaw. He is also the president of the Polish-Czech Aviation Association Foundation (PCAA). He was also the Polish ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Watch the report from the debate "Cooperation at the heart of Europe":