EU10 Conference – V4 Key Pillar Of Europe

Budapest, April 28 (MTI) – The Visegrad Group is a key pillar of the European community, having facilitated cooperation in such areas as talks on gas supplies and the 2014-2020 EU budget, Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, told a conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary EU expansion today.

The grouping of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia also frequently extends cooperation under the aegis of the V4+ to northern and southern European states, Sikorski noted.

He said it remained to be seen whether EU member states would act alone or unite to assist Ukraine. Only if member states act in unison will there be any hope of getting both Kiev and Moscow to reach a point of change, he said.

Addressing the conference, Miroslav Lajcak, the Slovak foreign minister, noted that whereas 2004 enlargement had brought numerous advantages to new member states, there was still room for improvement in terms of making various EU mechanisms better integrated, he added, citing monetary and banking union and the strengthening of energy security. Further rules for bringing citizens closer to the EU have yet to be simplified, he said, noting common foreign, security and defence policies continued to pose challenges.

Human rights is an area where definite advancement has been made and the people of central Europe now live more peacefully and prosperously, while the impact of its countries from a geopolitical point of view has strengthened, he added.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters