Minister: Czechs should move beyond Visegrad group

The Czech minister for European affairs, Mikuláš Bek, says it is time for the country to develop a regular European policy and not to overly focus on the Visegrad Four group, which also includes Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

Speaking in an interview for Czech Radio on Saturday, Mr. Bek said that the V4 had had a clear political objective in admission to the EU and NATO. Since that was achieved the connection has weakened and Visegrad has been a communication platform among ministers, prime ministers and presidents.

He said the group was often not a genuine four but in fact a two-plus-two or three-plus-one.