Slovak News Back to the news
Responsible Policies in V4 Will Also Strenghten EU (UPDATE)
Tuesday 20 July 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Budapest, July 20 (TASR-correspondent) - If the Visegrad Four group (Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland) carries out responsible policies, including fiscal ones, and if the V4 makes joint progress with regional programmes, relaunching economies and providing support for the creation of new jobs - the European Union will be also strengthened, Slovak Premier Iveta Radicova said at a meeting of the V4 premiers in Budapest on Tuesday.
"We'll look for the things that connect us and we'll detach ourselves from what divides us. We'll also promote common interests at broader European Union discussions," said Radicova, whose country has assumed the rotating presidency of the group and will hold it until June 30, 2011.
According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the four premiers agreed that the Hungarian presidency that has just ended was successful. Orban emphasised that 2011 will be Central Europe's year in European politics, pointing to the upcoming Hungarian presidency of the EU, with Poland set to take over the baton after that. The two presidencies will co-operate closely, said Orban.
The priorities of the Slovak V4 presidency, said Radicova, will be to look for measures to deal with one of the worst economic crises ever, while strengthening energy security and promoting the interests of Central and Eastern European countries within the EU more effectively.
According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, new EU-member states need to prove that they aren't weaker or less worthy than the fifteen members that made up the Union before the enlargement in 2004. Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary can be proud of the fact that their "co-operation within the V4 group has set an example for the entire EU". Another example worthy of emulation is the courage of Central and Eastern Europe in tackling the crisis with bold reforms, added Tusk.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas emphasised how important strengthening energy security is for the V4 countries, which have keenly felt their dependence on certain sources of energy in recent years [including during the gas-supply crisis in the winter of 2008/09 - ed. note]. "The EU is preparing important documents concerning this issue; the task of the V4 countries is to promote their interests as effectively as possible," said Necas.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
