On Wednesday a gathering of the Heads of State of the Visegrad Group was held in Prague. The presidents of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary discussed, among others, the Visegrad Fund, the improvement of infrastructure and economy, energy cooperation and the safety of the region in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Via Carpatia
President Andrzej Duda and Czech president Petr Pavel, Slovakia Zuzanna Čaputova and Hungary Ms Novák discussed the improvement of infrastructure and safety in the region.
The communication solutions that we carry out – roads, fast-speed trains, major infrastructure projects – lead to the improvement of connections between our countries, in this part of Europe, he pointed out.
Among the projects implemented by the Visegrad Group, the Via Carpatia way deserves peculiar attention. It is simply a high-speed road (in any sections it has road parameters) moving through north-eastern Poland and Slovakia, and in future besides Hungary. The end of the investment is dated to 2030. The president pointed out that Via Carpatia is of large importance in the context of security, as it makes it easier for officers and soldiers to decision along the east border, ensuring the anticipation of better guarding the episode with Belarus.
Visegrad Fund
Another subject of the conference was the Visegrad Fund – its functioning and impact on the improvement of the region. The Visegrad global Fund is an global organization based in Bratislava founded in 2000. The Fund has an yearly budget of €10 million; this money is intended to support cultural cooperation, technological exchange, investigation and cooperation in the field of education, as well as the activities of NGOs in the countries of the Group. The fund's budget consists of equal contributions from V4 governments and support from governments and organisations from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Next year Polish Presidency
Andrzej Duda invited V4 heads of state to the next year's summit in Poland. He besides recalled that it was Poland that was just taking over the Presidency from the Czech Republic in 2024.
A year ago we met in Bratislava, this year we have a gathering in Prague, we will most likely meet in Poland next year. We have decided where, but I invitation the presidents to this gathering in advance," said Andrzej Duda.
Support for Ukraine
Andrzej Duda besides stated that the Prague talks besides afraid the safety and political situation in connection with Russian aggression against Ukraine. “We all agree that Ukraine inactive needs and needs support,” he stressed.
He added that there is besides a consensus that it must include both aid sent to Ukraine and aid to war refugees from the country where the V4 countries, as front-end states, have been providing Russian aggression from the beginning.
We have a common position in this context. Russia cannot win this war. We want to aid Ukraine in the maximum way that it can defend its country and its people in this war – the president of Hungary has told it.
The offer of organization assistance to Ukraine by V4 seems to be out of place today. Firstly, due to the deficiency of compatibility of all countries, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico immediately after taking office expressed all support for Kiev, and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stopped backing Ukraine on September 25 of that year. Secondly, Ukraine's interests, together with the resulting conflict, are increasingly conflicting with the interests of the Visegrad Group: Kiev blocks Polish carriers on its border, while allowing Ukrainian drivers without permits to enter the Union; the Ukrainian government has inactive not given its consent to the exhumation in Volyn; the Ukrainian parliament has adopted an educational bill that strikes the rights of the Hungarian number in Ukrainian Zakarpacie, limiting the right to teach in its native language.
Other issues
Cooperation in the field of energy and climate protection has besides been discussed. president Duda recalled the forthcoming COP climate conference in Dubai and the challenges of energy transformation.
Andrzej Duda pointed out that Poland is implementing an army modernization program, drawing conclusions from what is happening in Ukraine. “Poland has signed arms supply agreements from the United States and South Korea and has systematically increased the army’s numbers,” he said.
We will defend ourselves so that no 1 dares to invade Poland or any of the neighbouring countries," concluded the President.
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