On the first day of the forum, the foreign ministers of the Visegrad countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – adopted a joint declaration highlighting the growing importance of their V4 cooperation.

The EU should pursue a “more powerful” foreign and security policy, Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi said at the GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, adding that the trans-Atlantic cooperation was instrumental in ensuring security in Central Europe.

“We wanted to underline that the V4 is a very important form of regional cooperation, and Visegrad is not in contrast with European integration - on the contrary: Visegrad countries have an interest in its strengthening,” János Martonyi said. The declaration also seeks to increase cooperation in the defence industry, allowing small and medium-size companies a greater role.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister declared that the past years had demonstrated: the weight of the V4 group had significantly increased within the European Union. For instance, the V4 played an important role in facilitating the accession talks with Croatia.

Minister Martonyi said it was an achievement that the Visegrad initiative had been retained despite the different interests of the four participants. He added that Visegrad was “much more than a symbol” and argued that ties between members have now developed into strategic cooperation.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)