Presidents Ivan Gašparovič, Václav Klaus, László Sólyom and Lech Kaczynski discussed security and social issues in Europe

Presidents Ivan Gašparovič, Václav Klaus, László Sólyom and Lech Kaczynski discussed security and social issues in Europe, the European Neighbourhood Policy and the security architecture of Europe along with its energy and food security. They also talked about the need for “certain democratisation” within the European Union; however, not in terms of the observance of human and civil rights, but in terms of the participation in the EU decision-making process and an equal status of all member states, regardless of the time of their accession to the EU. The Presidents also discussed the issue of legal and illegal migration. They are of the opinion that, even though Schengen has brought positive results, they do not agree with the politics of some western neighbouring countries, which in fact have only moved their checks further inland.

The main topic of today’s discussion was the security system of Europe, as well as the conflict in Georgia and relations between Russia and Georgia.

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič said that they did not share the same opinion regarding the reason for the conflict, but as he stated: “We all agreed that we had to oppose the use of force to solve conflicts.” The V4 Presidents are of the same opinion regarding the preservation of Georgia’s territorial integrity. According to the Presidents, the conflict in Georgia was also affected by the situation in Kosovo.

“Clearly, the use of force must be eliminated. It is necessary to have a dialogue and stabilize the situation. All four countries are ready to provide financial and economic assistance in the process of solving the Caucasian conflict,” Václav Klaus said. The Czech President also informed his counterparts in detail on preparations for the upcoming Czech EU presidency.

He said that all four Presidents had agreed that the EU visa policy should be used for the purposes of the Eastern Neighbourhood Policy in order for Ukrainian citizens not to be burdened by visa problems. With regards to the conflict in the Caucasus, Václav Klaus said that the V4 countries wished to participate in taking the common standpoint of the EU towards Russia.

According to President Lech Kaczynski, they also assessed the current level of the EU democratisation process, as well as relations between its original and new member states. However, this will be the main topic of next year’s meeting of the Presidents, which will be held in Sopot in Poland.