The Visegrad group: stages of formation and development

The Visegrad Group (V4) was formed on 15 of February 1991 at a meeting of the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Vaclav Havel, the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Walesa, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, Jozsef Antall. On the first period of its existence (1991-1997) main objectives were elimination of all existing social, economic and spiritual aspects of the totalitarian system and integration into the Euro-Atlantic Formations. The main achievement on this period was the signing of Central European Free Trade Agreement in 1992. In the following years the interest of cooperation between the V4 countries began to slacken due to the prevalence of the idea that individual effort towards accession to the Euro-Atlantic integration formations would be more efficient. Visegrad cooperation was resumed in 1998 when Council of the European Union proposed to begin negotiation on accession to the EU. Visegrad cooperation is not institutionalized. The only organization within the V4 platform is the International Visegrad Fund. The fund was established in 2000 with the aim of supporting the development of cooperation in culture, scientific exchange, education. After their accession to the European Union in 2004 and NATO in 1999 countries of the Visegrad Group signed new declaration on 12 of May 2004 in Kromeriz. The cooperation of the Visegrad Group countries will continue to focus on regional activities and implementing the European Union policies towards the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe particularly within the "Eastern Partnership" program. To implement these tasks Group adopted a new format of cooperation with the participation of partner countries - "V4+". The fourth stage of cooperation is related to the implementation of "Eastern Partnership" program. Thereby, in development of the Visegrad Group are four stages: - 1991-1997: formalization of the Group and setting of primary goals; - 1998-2004: realization of the set goals, namely, joining NATO and start of negotiation on accession to the EU; - 2004-2008: struggle for equality in the EU and expansion of the cooperation area to a format "V4+"; - 2009-2014: acceptance of the role of the responsible for the eastern policy of the EU, strengthening of international status. At the present time during the EU crisis and change of approaches to solving international problem the Visegrad Group shows a high level of solidarity.

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