{"id":28747,"date":"2019-06-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aspeninstitutece.softmedia.cz\/news-article\/v4-germany-new-avenues-of-cooperation-and-enhanced-consultation\/"},"modified":"2019-06-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T22:00:00","slug":"v4-germany-new-avenues-of-cooperation-and-enhanced-consultation","status":"publish","type":"news-article","link":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/news-article\/v4-germany-new-avenues-of-cooperation-and-enhanced-consultation\/","title":{"rendered":"V4-Germany \u2013 New Avenues of Cooperation and Enhanced Consultation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A public debate \u201cVisegr\u00e1d Countries and Germany \u2013 New Avenues of Cooperation and Enhanced Consultation\u201d organized within the series of workshops V4-Germany Forum by the\u00a0Aspen Institute Central Europe<\/strong>\u00a0and Aspen Institute Germany <\/strong><\/a>\u00a0was held on June 3 at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Berlin. <\/span><\/p>\n

The evening commenced with welcoming words by Ambassador <\/b>of the Slovak Republic in Berlin\u00a0Dr. Peter Liz\u00e1k<\/b>.\u00a0The following opening remarks were made by\u00a0State Secretary Claudia D\u00f6rr-Voss<\/b>, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and State Secretary Franti\u0161ek Ru\u017ei\u010dka<\/b>, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Among the\u00a0speakers were also\u00a0Ji\u0159\u00ed Nantl<\/b>, Director, Central European Institute of Technology and Chairman of Alliance4Life, and Olaf Osica<\/b>, Director of International Affairs, European Economic Congress, and the debate was moderated by Ji\u0159\u00ed Schneider, the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Central Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Franti\u0161ek Ru\u017ei\u010dka <\/b>reminded the audience that the\u00a0European Union was established as a peace\u00a0project based on shared values, freedoms and protection of citizens, all of which is currently\u00a0being taken for granted. There needs to be a balance between old\u00a0and new policies as well flexibility due to the different priorities of each state.<\/p>\n

Claudia D\u00f6rr-Voss <\/b>emphasized\u00a0<\/b>not overlooking close neighbors when exploring avenues of cooperation within the European region.\u00a0There are strong economic ties\u00a0with V4 countries which are the most important trading partner with Germany with 293 billion\u00a0euros in trade volume. In comparison, the German trade with China amounts to only 199\u00a0billion, with the Netherlands 189 billion, with the US 178 billion and France 170 billion. The\u00a0importance of the relationship is thus mutual, because Germany is the most important trading\u00a0partner for V4 countries, but also one of the biggest investing partners.<\/p>\n

Ji\u0159\u00ed Nantl<\/strong>\u00a0pointed out\u00a0a huge\u00a0fragmentation which we need to challenge by means of education, strongly focusing on critical thinking to empower citizens to understand the common misconceptions as well\u00a0as the values and freedoms the EU offers. We have to reappraise the educational system to\u00a0prepare students for life-long learning and teaching critical thinking.<\/p>\n

Olaf Osica <\/strong>elaborated on the necessity to explore both European and global challenges in the dialogue between Germany and Visegr\u00e1d 4 countries, while not losing a momentum to create important political and economical frameworks and good regulations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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New Avenues of Cooperation between Visegr\u00e1d Countries and Germany discussed at a public debate at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Berlin with @BMWi_Bund Claudia D\u00f6rr-Vo\u00df @FeroRuzicka<\/a> @OlafOsica @jiri_nantl<\/a>. Organized in cooperation with @AspenGermany<\/a>, thank you. pic.twitter.com\/i2VDP4Ql0x<\/a><\/p>\n

— Aspen Institute CE (@AspenInstCE) June 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n