Meeting of the Committees on Security and Defence of the Parliaments of the Visegrad Group Countries; 28 – 29 April 2024, Prague
The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Czech Republic, which holds the Presidency of the Visegrád Group from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, jointly organised a meeting for the Defence and Security Committees of the Parliaments of the Visegrád countries on 28- 29 April 2024 in Prague.
The event was hosted by Pavel Žáček, Chairman of the Security Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, and Pavel Fischer, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Committee of the Czech Senate, and attended by representatives of the relevant committees of all V4 parliamentary chambers. The chairman, Zoltán Sas, represented the Committee on National Security of the Hungarian National Assembly, whereas Miklós Simon, Vice-Chairman and József Attila Móring, member of the Committee, attended on behalf of the Committee on Defence and Law Enforcement.
The first session of the meeting focused on migration as a challenge for Central Europe, with introductory speeches by Radek Kaňa, Czech Deputy Interior Minister and Lieutenant Gen. Martin Vondrášek, Police President. At the end of the first session, the V4 also adopted joint Conclusions on the state of play of the EU’s Migration Pact, expressing their concern about the increasing migratory pressure and presenting their possible solutions, including the importance of developing new strategic partnerships, the importance of enhanced protection of external borders, the fight against migrants’ smuggling and the crucial role of increased return of migrants. The second topic on the agenda was the “defence of the V4 states after the Russian aggression against Ukraine”, with presentations by Jan Jireš, Director General of the Policy and Strategic Division of the Czech Ministry of Defence, and Karel Řehka, Chief of General Staff of the Czech Army. There was consensus among the participants that the wide-ranging discussion on this topic ultimately helped to foster the dialogue and the exchange of views between the participants.
Photos (Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic)