Honourable Reader,

The Hungarian National Assembly's commitment to strengthening parliamentary collaboration within the Visegrád Co-Operation has been unbroken since the establishment of the co-operation in 1991. There have been regular parliamentary contacts since the meeting of the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees of the Visegrád Group countries in 1998, as well as discussions among Speakers of Parliaments since the meeting of the Speakers of Parliaments held in 2003, in Budapest.

Since the signing of the 2014 Budapest Joint Statement of the Speakers of Parliaments on the development of parliamentary co-operation among Visegrád countries, co-operation has continued in a more intense manner, which is a very much welcome development, and did not pause even during the Covid-19 pandemic, moving into the virtual space instead. The Speakers’ meetings which have intensified in frequency since 2014, and the regular and substantive discussions held between the various committees confirm that it is always worth deepening the dialogue. This is particularly true in the current, challenging environment. I believe that today the co-operation of V4 countries is more important than ever before. Due to historical reasons, the positions of the four countries naturally differ on certain issues, and no one questions their justified nature. However, Central Europe and the V4 countries could only succeed together when we focused on the common points that link us all together. By bringing our countries together, we can represent the region as a whole and thus shape the future of Europe together. 

I am delighted that during the Hungarian V4 Presidency, which lasted from 1 July 2021 till 30 June 2022, numerous parliamentary events took place that strengthened relations between our legislatures. In order to boost the visibility of parliamentary co-operation, we reported on all events organised by us, as well as on other related events, on this website. The cross-party unity of our parliaments is duly demonstrated by the joint statements adopted by consensus at these meetings.

I am confident that parliamentary co-operation among Visegrád Group countries will be further strengthened during the next Slovak Presidency, as we need it more than ever in the current challenging environment. We will continue to provide information on parliamentary meetings on this website.

Yours sincerely,

                                                                                         László Kövér

                                                              Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly