On April 23, 2008, in Prague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr. Volodymyr Ogryzko took part in the meeting of the ministers for foreign affairs of the Vyshegrad Group (V4) countries in the framework of presidency of the Czech Republic.

The heads of the foreign policy offices of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czechia and Ukraine discussed a scope of issues of multilateral cooperation intensification between Ukraine and the V4 countries in political, economic, military, scientific-educational and humanitarian spheres.

In the course of the meeting, support of the V4 countries for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine was confirmed. It was underlined that cooperation in the V4 framework with the participation of Ukraine would contribute to cooperation intensification between the European Union and our state and simultaneously to assertion of the regional interests under EU extension conditions.

In the meeting, the State Secretary of Sweden Mr. Frank Belfrage, a representative of the country which will preside in EU in the second half 2009, took part. Participation of Sweden in the meeting of the Vyshegrad Group and Ukraine extends the friends’ group of Ukraine in EU which in addition to the V4 countries includes the NB-6 countries, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden.

By the results of the meeting, the participants approved the Joint Statement of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Vyshegrad Group countries, Ukraine and Sweden on the prospect of membership of our state in EU as well as the Joint Statement of the Ministries for Foreign Affairs of the V4 countries where support in joining of Ukraine to the Membership Action Plan, implementation of the course to Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine and contribution to conducting of the NATO information campaign are declared.