Press Advisories

28. 1. 2016 17:41

Premier Sobotka Convenes an Extraordinary Summit of V4 Countries to Deal with the Migration Crisis

At the initiative of the Czech presidency of the Visegrad Group, a summit of the prime ministers of V4 countries will be held in Prague on 15 February 2016. Convened by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the event will focus on finding a solution to the current migration crisis and on recapitulating the functioning of the Visegrad Group on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

During the summit, Visegrad Group countries will coordinate their joint position before a session of the European Council that will be held in Brussels during 18 and 19 February 2016.

"Through aid provided thus far, V4 countries have demonstrated their resolve to contribute to the European Union's effort to cope with the migration crisis. The Visegrad Group's objective is to maintain an active approach. At the extraordinary summit, the prime ministers of Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia and I will therefore debate measures that will lead to the establishment of thorough protection of the external border of the Schengen Area. One possibility is to reinforce security on the borders between Greece and Macedonia and between Greece and Bulgaria so as to create conditions facilitating the regulation of the strong pressure exerted by people migrating to Europe. Together with our friends from the other V4 countries, I want to prepare a backup solution that could be employed in the event that the agreements with Turkey fail and Greece continues to provide deficient protection of its borders," said the Czech prime minister.

Another topic of the February summit in Prague will be the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Visegrad Group. The prime ministers will review the quarter of a century of successful cooperation in the Visegrad region and will debate future prospects for cooperation within the group, including V4's joint position on the reform proposals made by the United Kingdom.

The Visegrad Three was founded on 15 February 1991 at a summit of Hungarian Prime Minister József Antall, Czechoslovak President Václav Havel, and Polish President Lech Wałęsa in Visegrad, where the three politicians signed a declaration on close cooperation between the three Central European countries on their path toward European integration. After the division of Czechoslovakia, the name was changed to Visegrad Group.

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