BRATISLAVA/KARLOVY VARY, November 5, (WEBNOVINY) – Slovakia’s President Ivan Gasparovic highlighted the importance of operation of the Visegrad Group (V4) for the central-European region in the opening speech at the summit of V4 Presidents in Karlovy Vary, the Czech Republic. The two-day summit of presidents of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia has commenced on Friday. President’s spokesman Marek Trubac informed SITA news agency that the head of state mentioned also the recent 92nd anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia. “Without the establishment of a common state of Czechs and Slovaks 92 years ago, we could not have independent, modern and democratic national states of the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic,” he stated.
The Slovak president and his counterparts, the host Vaclav Klaus, Pal Schmitt and Bronislav Komorowski addressed people who gathered at the square after Klaus welcomed the guests, in particular the newly elected Hungarian President Pal Schmitt and new Poland’s President Bronislaw Komorowski. The Czech president underscored the importance of regular meetings and cooperation of the group that was established twenty years ago in Visegrad, Hungary. President Gasparovic believes that V4 can do a lot for the region in the future.
In the discussion at the first plenary meeting, the heads of state discussed the issue of European economic and social model. Hungarian President Schmitt criticized fulfillment o the Lisbon development strategy until 2020. Europe is facing a lot of problems today in the social, economic, and energy security areas, he stressed.
Ivan Gasparovic noted that attention should be devoted to the Roma issue. “We are criticized for the Roma issue in all Europe. But I have not experienced that someone in the world would criticize the other side,” he said. The president suggested that V4 pay more attention to pushing forward common economic interests, such as in trade with Russia, in order to compete more efficiently with more developed European countries.
Bronislav Komorowski said that one of the priorities of the upcoming Polish presidency of the group will be common European defense policy. According to Gasparovic, “there is a possibility of looking for new common initiatives including possible investments in third countries”.
The Visegrad Group operates on the principle of regular meeting of its members on various levels, such as presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and external consolations. Once a year V4 prime ministers meet. In between these meetings, one V4 members takes over the presidency. As of July 1 of this year, Slovakia presides the group.
SITA