Visegrád Group Countries Must Understand Their Common Goals

It is important for the Visegrád Group (V4) countries to understand their common goals and interests in the European Union, Polish Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk stressed in a letter to students at the sixth edition of the Summer University in Krasiczyń, southeast Poland, on Tuesday.

For the first time this year, the Polish-Hungarian Summer University in Krasiczyń will be attended by young people from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, more than 200 students in total. The five-day program, which started on Monday evening, is a direct continuation of the first Visegrád Summer Academy, organized last week in Budapest by the National University of Public Service and the Waclaw Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation in Warsaw.

Similar to the Budapest Academy, the program in Krasiczyń was opened on Tuesday with a welcome video by Katalin Novák, in which the President of the Republic underlined the strength of the historical cooperation within the V4 and the fact that the group is now the “economic engine” of the continent.

Andrzej Adamczyk also stressed the importance of regional relations, underlining that Europe must develop evenly and that all its regions must have equal opportunities for development. Without close Visegrád cooperation and common goals, Central Europe would not develop at the pace it is today, he added. Mutual knowledge also means stronger relations in the region and a better understanding of common goals and common interests within the EU, the minister stressed. He said it was a major challenge to continue cooperation at a difficult time for Europe as a whole, with “a severe war going on” on the eastern borders of the EU and the V4.

The series of events, running until Friday, will include panel discussions on political and economic cooperation in Central Europe, the challenges facing education and science, and workshops on journalism, branding, and diplomatic protocol.

In the military cemetery in the nearby town of Przemysl, the participants will pay their respects at the graves of soldiers who died in the First World War and visit the Przemysl fortress system. They can also take part in joint sports events.

This year’s Krasiczyń Summer University and the Visegrád Summer Academy in Budapest are organized by Hungary’s National University of Public Service and the Waclaw Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute in Warsaw with the support of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and the Lajos Batthyány Foundation.

Featured image: Facebook/V4 – Visegrad group