During its Visegrad Group (V4) presidency, which began on Wednesday, Poland will be aiming to achieve that the EU s 2021-2027 budget contain favourable conditions for the countries of the region, government spokesman Piotr Muller said.

In a recent interview with Catholic Radio Warszawa, the spokesman described the current draft budget – to be discussed at the European Council summit on 17-18 July – as „quite favourable”.

He said he believed that Germany and France would support the compromise solutions concerning both the budget and the EU s recovery fund designed to boost the European economy in the post-pandemic environment. When it comes to solutions that are viable for the whole of Europe, prospects to reach an agreement with the so-called „frugal four” (some additional net contributors) are also good, he added.

Mr Muller described the adoption of a „good” EU budget in the coming months as the main goal of Poland s one-year V4 presidency, which began on Wednesday. Currently, the V4 countries  task is to identify differences that are a consequence of the Iron Curtain, which used to separate the Western and Central European states, and to make „Europe understand the challenges that this region is facing because of these discrepancies,” the spokesman said.

In the V4 presidency s agenda published on the website of the Polish foreign ministry, top priorities include the regional coordination of negotiations on the EU s multi-annual budget and promoting people-to-people contact in people s post-pandemic everyday life. In addition, V4 countries will also focus on deepening cooperation in the digital sector, security cooperation, infrastructure development, supporting the integration aspirations of the Western Balkan countries, as well as the development of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative.

The inaugural ceremony of Poland s V4 presidency will be held in Warsaw on Friday. President Andrzej Duda is expected to address the summit attended by V4 prime ministers, according to a statement issued by the Polish president s office.