Seminar: The Future of Visegrad Co-operation after EU enlargement. A New Beginning?
Warsaw, May 18-19th, 2003
The seminar on the future of the Visegrad Co-operation was organized jointly by the Stefan Batory Foundation and the Polish Foreign Ministry Poland and held at the Belvedere Palace on May 18-19, 2003. The seminar was conducted in a format of an informal discussion during which the participants shared their experience from co-operation, analyzed the mutual relations of our countries on the eve of accessing the European Union, and expressed their ideas regarding the future of the Visegrad Group. The differentiated spectrum of the participants, comprised of politicians, diplomats, independent analysts and researchers, NGOs representatives, and journalists, enlivened and fueled the discussion.
The seminar was divided into three thematic sessions:
- Evaluation of the Visegrad countries’ co-operation during 1991-2002.
- The situation of the Visegrad Group and Central Europe after the enlargement of the European Union.
- Perspectives for co-operation within the Visegrad Group after EU enlargement.
Despite some differences, most of the participants agreed that accession into the European Union should not bring the end to the Visegrad countries’ co-operation. There is a need to develop new ideas that would help to identify and promote common interests inside the EU, and new initiatives (such as the International Visegrad Fund), that would strengthen cooperation among our societies. The proposition to organize similar meetings in the future was unanimously welcome.
Agenda of the seminar [PDF 69 KB]
List of participants [PDF 35 KB]
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