International Relations
Interview
Florence Gaub on Navigating a Renewed Conflict in the Middle East – INTERVIEW
3 October 2024
17 February 2021
What is the V4? Does the Visegrad Group still exist? How do you pronounce Visegrad? How big is the Visegrad Group? Did you hear about Plintenburg? Is Viktor Orbán the leader of the V4? What has the Visegrad Group ever delivered for the rest of Europe? Find out in our new FAQ post.
Literally “Visegrad” means the upper castle and refers to a historical venue of a meeting between Bohemian (Czech), Hungarian and Polish kings in the mid-14th century.
The Visegrad Group was officially formed on 15 February 1991 at the Castle of Visegrad in Hungary. The agreement was signed by Czechoslovak President Václav Havel, Hungarian Prime Minister József Antall and Polish President Lech Wałęsa. It was then referred to as the Visegrad Triangle. When Czechs and Slovaks split up the V3 became V4 but with an empty seat for Slovakia until authoritarian Prime Minister, Vladislav Mecar was removed from power and Bratislava government fully embraced a pro-Western and pro-democratic direction.