Příloha č. 13

Joint Statement Summit Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Visegrad Group, Esztergom, 29 June, 2002

 
1. The Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic met in Esztergom in order to review the results of the Visegrad cooperation, and to strengthen further its cohesion.

2. Enhancement and effectiveness of the cooperation among the V4 countries has been chosen as the main topic of this meeting. The Prime Ministers assessed the activity of the Hungarian Presidency and the activity of International Visegrad Fund, discussed the program of the Slovak Presidency, and exchanged views on the EU accession process, the foundation of Visegrad Prize, establishing Visegrad Scholarship Programme, and the role of the presidency of the Visegrad Group in general, on the preparations of NATO Summit in Prague, autumn 2002, especially in relation to the process of NATO enlargement.

3. The Prime Ministers reaffirm their commitment to the Visegrad Four co-operation. Time has come to consolidate the countries of Central Europe as lands of stability and prosperity. In the gate of the enlargement of the European Union and facing the second stage of the enlargement of NATO, the nations of the Visegrad Group attribute an increasing significance to their regional co-operation as well as to their joint action at international level.

4. The "Annual Report on the Activities of the Visegrad Group" summarizes the results, which were achieved by the four countries in different fields of co-operation during the Hungarian Presidency. The implementation of the Hungarian Presidency's program contributed to developing and broadening the V4 cooperation. The Prime Ministers are committed to strengthen further the political, economic and cultural aspects of the co-operation at all levels. They lay a special emphasis on the cooperation of justice and home affairs and on the fight against terrorism. Such enhanced cooperation contributes to a large extent to the strengthening of the V4 cohesion, which would be beneficial in the process of the European integration. As an annex to the "Content of Visegrad Cooperation" the Prime Ministers approved the document defining the role of the Presidency of the Visegrad Group.

5. The Prime Ministers note with satisfaction that the development of the co-operation between the Visegrad Group and the Benelux countries is promising. They are convinced that their co-operation will give further contribution to the European construction.

6. The Prime Ministers attached great importance to the ongoing debate on the future of Europe, and confirmed their interest to actively contribute to the process, both during the forthcoming Convent and the next Intergovernmental Conference.

7. The Prime ministers reiterated their position concerning the determination of their countries to conclude accession negotiations by the end of 2002 with the objective of becoming Member States of the European Union by 1 January 2004.

8. The Prime Ministers look forward to the decision of the Prague Summit to invite further countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as to the continuation of the NATO enlargement process. The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary express their full support for the efforts and membership aspiration of Slovakia as well as other aspirant countries. They expressed their appreciation for the progress made so far by the Slovak Republic in the integration process, and shared a joint position that Slovakia with a stable democracy and continuos commitment to Euro/Atlantic integration should be invited at the Prague summit.

9. The Prime Ministers initiate a Visegrad Group meeting at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in order to exchange views on relevant foreign policy issues such as the enlargement process of the European Union, and the development of cooperation between the Visegrad Group and third countries and other initiatives of regional cooperation.

10. The Prime Ministers express their common support to the idea of establishing a Visegrad Prize for outstanding cultural and scientific achievements, and call upon their Ministers of Culture to elaborate a proposal on the details of the matter.

11. The Prime Ministers exchanged views on cooperation between the Visegrad Group and third countries. They noted with satisfaction the progress of working out the framework of cooperation with Ukraine. They look forward to the finalisation of the Joint Initiative for cooperation between the Visegrad Group countries, Ukraine and the European Union in the field of Justice and Home Affairs.

12. The Prime Ministers highly appreciate the results of the work of the International Visegrad Fund. The great public interest in projects financed from the International Visegrad Fund proves the preparedness for cooperation in the Visegrad format also at levels other than the political one. The Prime Ministers fully support the idea of establishing a Visegrad Scholarship Programme and call upon their Ministers of Education to elaborate a proposal on the details of the matter. In this connection they also decided to increase annual contributions of each member country to the International Visegrad Fund by 20 per cent to EURO 600,000 as of the beginning of 2003.

13. The Prime Ministers expressed their support to the regional security projects and military cooperation. They took note of the progress in building the Joint Rapid Reaction Brigade developed by Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

14. The Prime Ministers welcome the cooperation at the level of Ministers of Environment and encourage the Ministers to broaden the scope of their cooperation. The Prime Ministers support the initiative of the Czech Republic to prepare a harmonized position of the Visegrad Group for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

15. Hungary handed over the V4 Presidency to the Slovak Republic. The next official meeting of the Prime Ministers will be held according to the program of the Slovak Presidency.