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UPDATE 2: V4 group drives economic growth in Europe: Polish PM

18.02.2021 00:01
Over the past three decades, the Visegrad Group of four Central European countries has developed to become a driver of economic growth across Europe, the Polish prime minister said on Wednesday.
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Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.Photo: PAP/Art Service 2

Mateusz Morawiecki was speaking as he met his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary to mark 30 years of their regional Visegrad Group (V4) and chart out the future course of the partnership.

Morawiecki told a news conference that Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have in recent years developed rapidly to become "the engine of economic development in Europe."

He said the four countries boasted “fast GDP growth, low unemployment, one of the lowest in the EU, growing investment, a very good environment for investors, a friendly business climate, and rising wages for our employees."

Morawiecki said that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Wednesday’s summit in the southern Polish city of Kraków focused on regional business as well as ways “to strengthen the European Union through faster vaccination, by working in solidarity to ensure vaccine production in the EU … in order to be able to return to normal life and business as usual."

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, joined Poland’s Morawiecki, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babiš and Slovakia’s Igor Matovič for the summit to discuss a range of regional and European policies.

The meeting included the signing of a special anniversary declaration and a separate digital declaration by the four prime ministers.

The schedule also featured a panel discussion in the afternoon on the future of the region amid efforts to boost business, creativity and innovation.

The regional heads of government were meeting after the presidents of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia last week gathered for a two-day summit in northern Poland to mark the 30th anniversary of the Visegrad Group and discuss post-pandemic recovery in the region.

The US Department of State has congratulated the four Central European countries as they mark three decades of partnership.

The Polish postal service has issued a special stamp to mark 30 years since the establishment of the Visegrad Group.

The postage stamp is a joint project by Poczta Polska and its counterparts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It will be available in all four countries. 

Meanwhile, ambassadors from the four countries have opened an open-air exhibition in Brussels to spread the word about the milestone across Europe.

The exhibition, entitled 30 Years of Visegrad Cooperation, features photographs, documents and other information about the regional cooperation drive and its financial arm, the International Visegrad Fund.

The display runs until March 1 in central Brussels, at Avenue des Gaulois 29.

The Visegrad Group, or V4, is a regional cooperation platform that the four Central European countries started in 1991.

Meanwhile, the International Visegrad Fund, launched in June 2000, is a key instrument of regional cooperation.

It aims to support projects “to bring together people inside the V4 region but also within Europe as a common continent," thus making "its own contribution to the process of the European integration,” according to a declaration cited by the Polish foreign ministry last year.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, gov.pl, PAP, TVP Info

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