BRATISLAVA, June 16, (WEBNOVINY) — During Slovak presidency in the regional V4 group, the cooperation of the four central-Europe countries intensified, said Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Iveta Radicova at a meeting of prime ministers of the Visegrad Group countries attended by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Poland’s Premier Donald Tusk and the Czech Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. At the same time, she denies thoughts of V4 being some sort a separate group within the EU.
“I want to thank my partners for cooperation during the year, when Slovakia was honored to preside over V4,” said Radicova, pointing to several particular cases where this cooperation was evident. “We introduced a new format of working groups, which had been meeting in Brussels before summits,” she specified. “We reached an agreement on the issues of pension reform and promoting changes in the Stability and Development Pact,” she continued. She also highlighted cooperation on energy security, which was brought to attention after tragic events in Japan. He rejected debates about V4 being an autonomous unit within the EU. As she added, from the beginning there were voices saying that V4 could mean the creation of an autonomous group within the EU, but she underscored that the grouping should be accepted as natural cooperation and partnership.
Premiers Tusk and Orban as well as Czech minister Schwarzenberg thanked the Slovak Prime Minister for Slovakia’s successful V4 presidency. “I hope we will be at least three-quarters as successful as the Slovaks,” said the Czech Foreign Affairs Minister, who took over the rotating presidency in the group instead of the Czech Prime Minister Peter Necas, who has to deal with 24-hour strike of transport trade unions at home.
SITA