The International Visegrad Fund is an international organisation based in Bratislava, founded by the governments of the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4), the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland, and the Slovak Republic on June 9, 2000.
The purpose of the fund is to promote closer cooperation among V4 countries (and other countries) through the support of common cultural, scientific and educational projects, youth exchanges, cross-border projects and tourism promotion.
The budget of the fund (€6 million for 2010) comes from equal contributions from the governments of V4 countries. The fund provides support through four grant programmes, three scholarship schemes and artist residencies. Among the recipients of the fund’s support are mainly non-governmental organisations, municipalities and local and regional governments, schools and universities, as well as private companies and individual citizens.
The governing bodies of the fund are the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Council of Ambassadors.
The piece is part of the Visegrad Countries Special, prepared by The Slovak Spectator with the support of the International Visegrad Fund. For more information on cooperation between the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia please see the following document.
