Communiqué of the 17th Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the Visegrad Group Countries

1. Preparation of the decision of the International Visegrad Award for the year 2007;
2. Communication from the Commission on a European agenda for culture in the globalizing world - the outcome of the Informal meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the European Union held in Lisbon in September 2007;
3. Discussion of the importance of the Economy of Culture in Europe;
4. The achievements of the International Visegrad Fund;
5. Preparation of the official presentation of the Visegrad Anthology within the press conference in Bratislava.

1. The Ministers accepted the Experts' report on the actual implementation status of the projects of the V4 Countries.
2. The Ministers expressed their acknowledgement of the report on the progress achieved in the preparation of new projects.
3. The Ministers welcomed the joint project of the Visegrad Anthology and appreciated the effort of the V4 editors and experts achieving the goal and publishing the texts of 13 contemporary authors of the four countries. The Visegrad Anthology was officially presented within the press conference in Bratislava.
4. The Ministers recommended the joint project of Visegrad Library for the award of a grant from the International Visegrad Fund and consider the possibility of providing the financial support from the budget of respective ministries.
5. The Ministers welcomed and supported the continuation of the Colloquium of Library-Information employees from the V4 countries to be held in the Czech Republic in 2008.
6. The Ministers welcomed the national presentations of the Visegrad Anthology during the BIBLIOTÉKA Book Fair in November 2007 in Bratislava, April 2008 in Prague, May 2008 in Warsaw; April and September 2008 in Budapest.
7. The Ministers agreed on the further development of the Visegrad working group analysing the implications of the economic and social transformation for the cultural heritage in the Visegrad Group countries and welcomed the Polish initiative to organise the expert meeting and seminar in the field of heritage conservation in 2008.
8. In view of the Communication from the Commission on a European agenda for culture in a globalizing world the Ministers agreed on the common V4 countries support for the three strategic priorities: the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, the promotion of culture as a catalyst of creativity and the cultural cooperation with third countries.
9. The Visegrad Group Ministers of Culture discussed several aspects of the Economy of Culture based on the study being prepared for the Commission and supported the cooperation through the mobility of artists.
10. The Ministers welcomed the participation of the experts in the conference "Memory reclaimed" organized by the International Cultural Centre in Krakow in June 2007.
11. The Ministers welcomed the Hungarian initiative to organise a conference on the topics of economic impacts of culture to be held in Budapest in November 2008.
12. Ministers have acknowledged the programmes and achievements of the International Visegrad Fund.
13. Ministers have acknowledged the candidature of Wroclaw for the organisation of the EXPO 2012 World Exhibition as an opportunity to promote the whole Central European region, notably in the context of the subject "The culture of leisure in world economies" and its growing importance. They find the exhibition theme coherent with the European Union's policy and the Lisbon agenda.
14. Ministers acknowledged the organisation of the International Biennial "e-Golems" that will take place in Prague in 2009 based on the joint initiative of the Czech Republic and the Republic of Argentina. In the year of 400th anniversary of Rabbi Loew's death, the Czech side warmly welcomes the experts and artists in the field of new technologies from all V4 countries to join this very ambitious project.
15. Based on the experts' recommendation the Ministers agreed on the nomination of the Czech candidate International Festival Theatre Plzeň for the International Visegrad Prize for 2007 during the ministerial meeting in the Czech Republic.
    

The attending parties established that the next meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the Visegrad Group Countries will be held in Olomouc, Czech Republic, 18th–20th June 2008 on the occasion of the Central European Forum organised by the Museum of Arts in Olomouc.