V4 meeting shows Group setting tone for recovery - FM
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said that the Tuesday meeting of the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries shows that the Group is setting the tone for direct cooperation during recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
The foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia met in Wadowice, southern Poland.
Czaputowicz said the Wadowice summit was the first meeting at this level under the Polish presidency of the V4, which began on July 1.
"Our meeting and talks were very successful; we started the chairmanship of the Visegrad Group at the level of foreign ministers. This shows how much importance we attach to cooperation within the Visegrad Group, especially during the pandemic," said the Polish foreign minister.
At their meeting, the V4 ministers agreed that the group should continue to be an advocate for the interests of Central Europe, and remain a policy coordinating tool for the V4 member states, Czaputowicz reported.
During the Wadowice summit, Poland presented the priorities of its V4 presidency and its motto, "Back to Normality," Czaputowicz also said.
Warsaw's priorities include a strong European Union, an ambitious EU budget, development funds, Brexit, climate and post-pandemic recovery, according to the minister.
Czaputowicz also said the V4 had pledged to support the German presidency of the EU in the difficult period of the coronavirus crisis.
The four foreign ministers also said they would continue to advocate for the Western Balkans in their EU integration efforts.
Wadowice is the home town of John Paul II, the late Polish-born pope. After the talks, the four ministers laid flowers at a monument to the pope, whose original name was Karol Wojtyla. (PAP)
