The Visegrád Group and Its Voting Patterns on the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian Conflict in the UN General Assembly
Abstract
In this paper, we investigate the extent to which the V4 countries form a distinct foreign-policy bloc within the EU. We do so by examining the voting patterns of the V4 in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Specifically, we look at the extent to which the V4 tend to vote as a bloc and whether their voting patterns are more closely affiliated with the US, the EU, or Russia. This will serve as a barometer that will help us to better understand the foreign policy positions of both the V4 countries as a bloc and individually.
We show that there is a strong similarity among the V4 in voting on UNGA resolutions, including important resolutions, relating to the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflict. If the V4 take a stand on an important resolution, they always stand together.
However, there is some variability, and there have been cases in which one country took a stand and the others abstained. In the V4, the Czech Republic and Poland are the closest pair, whereas Czechia and Slovakia have the least common ground.