The Visegrad Group is a regional association of four Central European countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. This group was formally established in 1991, but its roots date back to the meeting of three rulers – Poland, Hungary and Bohemia in 1338. The Visegrad Group sought to have its countries join the European Union, which was achieved in 2004. Despite difficult periods in history, the nations of the Visegrad Group have survived and developed. The complicated geopolitical situation and the divergent positions of the group’s states should not rule out joint achievements. It is worth remembering that four voices are more than one and that cooperation strengthens.

Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies considers cooperation with the V4 countries to be very important, as exemplified by the organisation of conferences devoted to Poland’s bilateral relations with individual V4 countries. These are the 1st and 2nd Slovak Forums organised in Jasionka near Rzeszów and the 3rd Slovakia-Poland Forum in Bardejovske Kupele in Slovakia. These events have been organised by the Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies together with its partners, starting from 2019.

Poland’s relations with the Czech Republic were devoted to the 1st and 2nd Polish-Czech Forums, which were held as part of the Economic Forum in Karpacz. The results of this effort were two publications, which were created thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition “Polish-Czech Forum for rapprochement of societies, deepened cooperation and good neighbourliness 2022.”
The publication written in English entitled “Polish-Czech Forum – Poland and the Czech Republic Towards Contemporary Challenges” was established in 2020. Bilingual Polish-Czech publication entitled “Polish-Czech Relations: Strengthening Energy Security as a Key Priority until 2050” was established in 2022.

Starting from 2019, the Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies has been organising conferences devoted to Polish-Hungarian relations. The 1st Poland-Hungary Forum was organised in Stary Sącz. The second edition of the Forum took place in Karpacz, the third Poland-Hungary Forum was held in Warsaw remotely in 2021. The Economic Forum 2022 has been enriched with the Polish-Hungarian Local Government Forum. The culmination of the cooperation was the signing of the Joint Declaration of Partners from the Visegrad Group countries by the Council of Slovak Exporters, the Association of Exporters, the MAPI Klub and the Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies.