Joint Statement on Enhancing the Activities Covered by the International Visegrad Fund

We, the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad countries, at our meeting in Budapest on 14 October, exchanged views on the results and perspectives of the International Visegrad Fund (IVF).
 
We emphasized the importance of the activities supported by the IVF and confirmed that it has been playing an ever growing role in the facilitation and promotion of closer cooperation between citizens and institutions within our region, as well as between citizens and institutions of the V4 and other countries, especially of the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans.
 
We discussed the ways to strengthen cooperation of strategic character to be supported by the IVF, and agreed with the need to give a substantial answer for growing interest towards Fund’s grant system.
 
In this spirit, acknowledging the versatility of the IVF, we have agreed to increase its current annual budget of 7 million euros to 8 million euros by an additional annual contribution of €250,000 per country, starting from 2014.
 
In order to comply with this expectation, we tasked relevant national authorities to take necessary measures.
 
Furthermore, to match the growing need of supporting the development of the Visegrad Cooperation and to guarantee the most effective spending of the IVF funds, we find it advisable to commission an in-depth review of the activities financed by the IVF up to now.