Visegrád Group Information & Visegrád Group Links at HealthHaven.com

Visegrad Group
Visegrad Group
	Map of Europe indicating the four member countries of the Visegrad Group
Membership	Czech Republic; Hungary; Poland; Slovakia
Leaders
Establishment	February 15, 1991
Area
Population

The Visegrád Group, also called the Visegrád Four or V4, is an alliance of four Central European states – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – for the purposes of cooperation and furthering their European integration. The Group's name in the languages of the four countries is Visegrádská čtyřka or Visegrádská skupina (Czech); Visegrádi Együttműködés or Visegrádi négyek (Hungarian); Grupa Wyszehradzka (Polish); and Vyšehradská skupina or Vyšehradská štvorka (Slovak). It is also sometimes referred to as the Visegrád Triangle, since it was the alliance of three states at the beginning - the term is not valid now, but appears sometimes even after all the years since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The Group originated in a summit meeting of the heads of state or government of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland held in the Hungarian castle town of Visegrád^[2] on February 15, 1991 (not to be mistaken with Vyšehrad, a castle in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic).

The Czech Republic and Slovakia became members after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. All four members of the Visegrád Group became part of the European Union on May 1, 2004.

[edit] Historical inspiration

The Royal Palace in Visegrád.

The name of the Group is derived, and the place of meeting selected, from a meeting of the Bohemian, Polish and Hungarian rulers in Visegrád in 1335. Charles I of Hungary, Casimir III of Poland and the Bohemian king, John of Luxembourg, agreed to create new commercial routes to bypass the staple port Vienna and obtain easier access to other European markets. A second meeting took place in 1339, where the new king of Poland was decided upon and the Visegrád Three (V3) group was formed. This group has been later extended to include Slovakia as a separate country.

[edit] Economies

After Slovenia, the Visegrád Group are the wealthiest post-Communist countries in Europe, but they still significantly fall behind the Western economies. All of them have relatively developed free market economies and have enjoyed more or less steady economic growth since the revolutions of 1989. In 2009, Slovakia has adopted the euro as official currency.

According to GDP per capita (both nominal and PPP), the most developed country is Czech Republic, followed by Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Also, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are considered high-income economies. While Poland is not a high-income economy yet and its GDP per capita is the lowest one of all the four members of the group, it is the biggest economy of them all and the sixth one in the EU.

Visegrád group logo

V4 presidents meeting in Budapest in 2003

SÚZA in Bratislava, seat of the International Visegrád Fund

[edit] Rotating presidency

The country holding the Group's presidency changes each year, in June:

1999–2000 Czech Republic
2000–2001 Poland
2001–2002 Hungary
2002–2003 Slovakia

2003–2004 Czech Republic
2004–2005 Poland
2005–2006 Hungary
2006–2007 Slovakia

2007–2008 Czech Republic
2008–2009 Poland
2009–2010 Hungary
2010–2011 Slovakia

2011–2012 Czech Republic
2012–2013 Poland
2013–2014 Hungary
2014–2015 Slovakia

[edit] International Visegrád Fund

Visegrád.

The only institution of the Visegrád co-operation is the International Visegrad Fund, established in 1999, with the seat in Bratislava. According to a decision of the prime ministers, the Fund has an annual budget of EUR 5 million since 2007 onwards. In 11 annual deadlines the Fund awards grants, scholarships and artist residencies.

[edit] Initiatives

[edit] Visegrád Scholarship Program

The continually expanding Visegrád Scholarship Program awards grants from the International Visegrád Fund for students of Master's or postgraduate levels. Students from the following countries are eligible for the scholarships: the Visegrád Group countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), also Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine.

[edit] Expert Working Group on Energy

In 2002, Hungary initiated establishment of an Expert Working Group on Energy. This expert group meets once or twice a year in V4 capitals on a rotation basis, and the head of the host country delegation always chairs the meeting.

On 27 April 2006, the V4 WG on Energy met in Prague with the aim of discussing recommendations for V4 energy ministers concerning topics negotiated at ministerial level meetings. The WG elaborated recommendations concerning four groups of problems:

Recommendations of general nature in the sphere of energy policy, including energy research and development.
Recommendation to consider development of emergency natural gas storage.
Recommendation to consider construction of new gas and oil pipelines and of new naval LNG terminals.
Recommendations in the field of interconnecting power transmission grids.

[edit] See also

Inner Six

[edit] References

^ Official website
^ Engelberg, Stephen (1991-02-17). "Three Eastern European Leaders Confer, Gingerly". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/17/world/three-eastern-european-leaders-confer-gingerly.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11.

[edit] External links

[0] Official website

[1] Engelberg, Stephen (1991-02-17). "Three Eastern European Leaders Confer, Gingerly". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/17/world/three-eastern-european-leaders-confer-gingerly.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11.

[1]

[2]

Contents