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V4 celebrates 25th anniversary of establishment

Xinhua, February 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Visegrad Four group (V4) including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia is a very good and internationally recognized brand of regional cooperation, announced Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak on Monday at the occasion of the 25th anniversary of V4 establishment.

"The V4 countries are generally perceived as a symbol of successful political and economic transformation," stressed Lajcak.

With respect to the EU, the V4 has tried to establish itself as a constructive and responsible entity and to bring added value to the decision-making process and problem resolution.

"Thanks to our coordinated procedures our joint voice in Europe is ever stronger, and it allows us to push through our common objectives more effectively," Lajcak said, stating EU cohesion policies, negotiations on the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework and the energy-climate package as examples.

Lajcak sees also further space for expanding cooperation.

"We've already started to develop cooperation in areas such as defense and energy, which were previously out of the question," explained Lajcak.

The V4 was set up in the northern Hungarian town of Visegrad on Feb. 15, 1991. Then Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel, Polish President Lech Walesa and Hungarian Prime Minister Jozsef Antall signed a declaration on close cooperation between the three countries on their way towards European integration.

When Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the number of members rose to four. The presidency of the V4 rotates every year. Currently, it's held by the Czech Republic. Endit