[5] All four states are also members of the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Three Seas Initiative.

The alliance traces its origins to the summit meetings of leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, held in the Hungarian castle town of Visegrád[6] on 15 February 1991.

At that time EU Commission started infringement procedures against actions of the Hungarian and Polish national-conservative governments, claiming that they undermine democracy, media freedom, and the independence of the judiciary.

[7] The Visegrad Four became politically split due to changes in governments and diverging reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Yet its role in fostering exchange among countries' public servants and civil societies (Visegrad Fund) remains crucial.

[8] If the Visegrád Group were a single country, its land area, population, and economy would be similar to those of Metropolitan France.

Charles I of Hungary, Casimir III of Poland, and John I of Bohemia agreed to create new commercial routes to bypass the city of Vienna (a staple port, which required goods to be offloaded and offered for sale in the city before they could be sold elsewhere) and to obtain easier access to other European markets.

[9][10] The group was created with the aim of moving away from communism and implementing the reforms required for full membership of the Euro-Atlantic institutions, such as NATO and the EU.

[13] This rift was highlighted by the summit in Prague in 2024, where Fiala said it "wouldn't make sense that we differ in the views of the cause of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the ways of solving it.

[16] Economic transformation from communist central-planning to democratic market-economy was one of the goals of the Visegrad cooperation and was seen as an integral part of the so-called “Return to Europe”.

[22][23] The economy of the Czech Republic is the group's second largest (GDP PPP of US$432.346 billion[24] total, ranked 36th in the world).

According to Poland's Central Statistical Office, in 2011 the Polish economic growth rate was 4.3%, the best result in the entire EU.

Poland's main industries are mining, machinery (cars, buses, ships), metallurgy, chemicals, electrical goods, textiles, and food processing.

The high-technology and IT sectors are also growing with the help of investors such as Google, Toshiba, Dell, GE, LG, and Sharp.

[41] The population is 64,301,710 inhabitants, which would rank 22nd largest in the world and 4th in Europe (similar in size to France, Italy or the UK) if V4 were a single country.

The main aim of the fund is to strengthen the ties among people and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe through giving support to regional non-governmental initiatives.

[citation needed] On 12 May 2011, Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said that Poland will lead a new EU Battlegroup of the Visegrád Group.

The decision was made at the V4 defence ministers' meeting in Levoča, Slovakia, and the battlegroup became operational and was placed on standby in the first half of 2016.

[49] Subsequent Action Plan defines these other cooperation areas:[48] V4 Joint Logistics Support Group Headquarters (V4 JLSG HQ) was established in 2020 and will reach the full operational capability by the beginning of 2023.

Petr Drulák, the deputy foreign minister of the Czech Republic, emphasized that the Austerlitz format was not a competitor, but an addition to the Visegrád group, after proposals to enlarge the V4 with Austria and Slovenia were rejected by Hungary.

[50][51] The leadership of the Freedom Party of Austria, the junior partner in the former Austrian coalition government, has expressed its willingness to closely cooperate with the Visegrád Group.

[52] Former Chancellor and leader of the Austrian People's Party Sebastian Kurz wanted to act as a bridge builder between the east and the west.

[59][60] In November 2022, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated, “This is not the best of times for the (Visegrád) format, and Hungary's different attitudes are significantly influencing and complicating the situation.”[59]