Press Advisories

24. 6. 201423:05

V4 Representatives Review the Hungarian Presidency

Czech Premier Bohuslav Sobotka, the other V4 Prime Ministers Robert Fico, Viktor Orbán, and Donald Tusk, and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso met at a summit of Visegrad Group countries in Budapest on Tuesday 24 June 2014.

The Visegrad Group summit in Budapest began with a conference titled Visegrad Group – Motor of European Growth. During the event, V4 prime ministers assessed the impact of the cohesion policy in their countries and agreed that the policy has been unambiguously beneficial, as the Visegrad Group region has been able to take full advantage of the potential of subsidies disbursed from EU funds. "Today, we discussed the drawing of EU subsidies in recent years and agreed that the funds have helped modernize our countries, promote economic growth, and create new employment opportunities. Now, it is important to look to the future. The key priority from the viewpoint of the Czech Republic is completing negotiations with the European Commission regarding the text of the partnership agreement, so that all operational programs can be approved. That will allow us to start drawing EU funds within the existing financial framework as soon as possible," explained Sobotka.

The meeting of Visegrad Group premiers has been convened by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to mark the end of his country's V4 presidency, which has now been assumed by Slovakia. "I want to begin by thanking Viktor Orbán because the Hungarian presidency was dynamic and active, and suceeded in furthering the importance of cooperation within the Visegrad Group and highlighting its prominence in the European Union as a whole. The Czech Republic considers it highly beneficial that we are able to coordinate our positions in such important areas as transport, energy, energy security, territorial security, the defense policy, and the European Union's foreign policy," Sobotka added at a press conference held after the V4 summit.