According to the widely read Berlin daily “Tagesspiegel” – Poland is an example of an “economic miracle”. During the pandemic, the Visegrad Group, led by Poland, has been playing a much greater role in stabilizing the German economy than even China.
Tagesspiegel editor Cristof von Marshall wrote: Everyone is talking about China, but hardly anyone about Germany’s eastern neighbors. The so-called “Visegrad 4” – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia – have a higher share in German foreign trade and also play a greater role than China in stabilizing the German economy in the corona crisis. This is emphasized by experts from the Eastern Committee of the German Economy.
China trade adds up to 212 billion euros; this corresponds to 9.5 percent of German foreign exchange. While trade with the four EU countries is one third larger: 286 billion euros, or 12.8 percent.
He goes on to specify the strengths of the four countries: Poland with a diverse economy and strong manufacturing base is undergoing energy upgrades with photovoltaics and energy magazines. Czech Republic purchasing power is larger than Spain’s and the German automotive industry is sourcing a large amount of parts from it. In regards to trade with Germany, Hungary’s is higher than Russia’s, and Slovakia’s beats that of India.
“This is another story coming from Germany. It commends the quality of management of the Polish economy. Should we not have had the obstacles posed by the European Union, we would have been even closer to the German economy. It only shows that we have to go along these lines. Moreover, the Polish ambition to become a leader in the region now seems to be a very real goal.” commented Zbigniew Krysiak from the Warsaw School of Economics.