During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hungary and Poland have progressively slipped further towards authoritarianism.
The Three Seas Initiative (TSI) was established in 2015 as a forum for political and economic dialogue that gathers together 12 EU countries in Central and Eastern Europe (from the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas), with a focus on energy and infrastructure. Cooperation under the Three Seas was intended to be an additional format for regional discussion and coordination covering all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that are EU members. As such, it was supposed to complement, not replace, other formats, such as cooperation within the Visegrad Group.
Proximity to Germany has some obvious advantages, not least helping Poland withstand the euro-crisis. Yet, it has drawbacks too, and if nothing changes in German European policy after the election, Poland’s may have to. The reason is simple: Poles have benefited from behaviour on the part of the current German government which have been costly to the EU as a whole. Poland is aware of the drawbacks in Germany’s approach and is in a position to offset them.