Czechia takes over its seventh Visegrad Group (V4) Presidency from Slovakia, in the dramatic geopolitical context of Russia’s continued unprovoked, unjustified and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.

Czechia continues to regard the Visegrad format as a traditional, Central European platform for cultivating good neighbourly relations through dialogue and practical human-centred cooperation, to bring specific benefits for the citizens of the V4 countries.

The programme of the Czech Presidency with its motto “V4 Citizens” is based on the above principles and structured into three pillars:

Pillar 1 “Safe and advanced society” will promote human-centred policies, particularly people-to-people and civil society contacts in areas of culture, education, science and research or sports. The International Visegrad Fund will play an important role. The first pillar will also include established V4 cooperation in internal and external security, civil protection, public administration and health care.

Pillar 2 “Innovative and interconnected economy” will involve specific sectoral projects and initiatives bringing practical benefits for the citizens of the V4 countries, related in particular to improving connectivity in the transport and energy sectors, supporting resilience by upgrading the energy and raw materials security and diversification, and to push forward the transition to innovative, digital and green economy and clean technologies in industry and trade.

Pillar 3 will respond to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its impacts on the country, neighbouring Moldova and the wider region. It will focus on political as well as practical “Support to Ukraine” and its citizens on different levels and in different sectors. The programmes of the International Visegrad Fund specifically designed for Ukraine and for other Eastern Partnership states and societies will be very important. The Czech Presidency will pay special attention to the discussion on the future of the Eastern Partnership, and look for ways in which this policy can help Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia fulfil their EU integration ambitions in the context of the EU enlargement policy, and to better support and engage the Belarusian civil society. Assisting the accession process of the Western Balkan countries will also remain a priority.

During the Czech Presidency, a number of expert meetings, seminars and conferences on the above-mentioned topics are planned, along with several traditional high-level meetings, such as a summit of the V4 Presidents, a summit or summits of V4 Prime Ministers or meetings of line Ministers.