New Year Message from our Executive Director

For many reasons, one could feel rather sad in this year’s Advent. The Russian aggression against Ukraine continues, the appalling atrocities committed by Hamas and the subsequent conflict in Gaza are casting ugly shadow all over Europe. The economy in many countries is balancing on the edge of recession, the political discourse is characterized by deep divisions and aggression, and social networks are full of frightening predictions about our gloomy future.

Nevertheless, this is neither a complete, nor a dominate representation of the world around us and definitely not the world we can see from the experience of the Visegrad Fund.
Through our grants, scholarships and residencies, we witness daily vibrant activities of civil society organizations. We encounter new ideas, examples of solidarity and impressive demonstrations of efforts to get rid of old prejudices and grudges.
Cooperation is the key word for all projects supported by the Fund. I wish all of us that this word also dominate the forthcoming year of 2024.

Petr Mareš