Central Europe Presidents Mark 30 Years of Visegrad Group

The presidents of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia gathered in northern Poland on Tuesday for two days of debates to mark the 30th anniversary of the Visegrad Group, an informal body of political and economic cooperation in the region.

Their talks will include the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, building energy security, protecting the climate, and international and trans-Atlantic relations.

The group, also known as V4, often works out joint positions in international ties, especially within the European Union.

Polish President Andrzej Duda welcomed counterparts, Zuzanna Czaputova of Slovakia, Janos Ader of Hungary, and Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic, at a residence on the Baltic Sea coast, on the Hel Peninsula.

Next week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will host the V4 group’s government leaders’ anniversary meeting with European Council President Charles Michel at the Wawel Castle in Krakow, southern Poland.

The meeting is set to work out a declaration of future goals for the group and discuss issues related to the internet and online games, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek.

The V4 was founded in February 1991 from a declaration of cooperation that then-Presidents Lech Walesa of Poland, Vaclav Havel of then-Czechoslovakia, and Jozsef Antall of Hungary signed in Visegrad, Hungary.

Poland currently holds the group’s 12-month rotating presidency, which it will hand over to Hungary on July 1.