The Visegrad Group of countries is set to launch a charity hotline to help each other’s citizens in the event of a disaster, it has been announced.
Miklós Soltész, state secretary in the Ministry of Human Capacities, said the Hungarian proposal aimed at “real solidarity" and "was very positively received” by the governments of the other member states.
Solidarity between Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia means providing help to people in need wherever they are, whether they are victims of a disaster or Christians living in the Middle East, he added.
Krisztina Dóra Varju, ministerial commissioner in charge of Hungary’s 2017-2018 V4 presidency, said the charity hotline constituted a new dimension in Visegrad cooperation.
Varju said the Visegrad partnership was more than just a framework for the diplomatic and political events of which almost 300 have been held so far during Hungary’s V4 rotating presidency.
She added that the cooperation of the four countries has never been as important as “during these challenging times,” adding that it was a shared goal and a strategic interest to “build a central Europe that is successful, competitive and safe in the long term."