WARSAW, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Parliamentary speakers of central and eastern European (CEE) countries are meeting here on Wednesday for a two-day meeting, which opened on Tuesday, to jointly assess the key contemporary challenges facing the region.
The two major sessions of the fourth Summit of Speakers of Central and Eastern European Parliaments are hosted by the Polish Senate. The first is dedicated to the common history of the countries of central Europe, and the second to their common challenges.
"We see very clearly the harmonious cooperation of all countries in our part of Europe, which increases our chances to solve different problems, such as the ones which accumulated over the last years in the European Union," Marek Kuchcinski, speaker of the Polish Sejm, the lower house of parliament, told journalists on Wednesday.
"Parliamentary cooperation supports the policies of governments and presidents of these countries, looking for solutions to important challenges, such as migration and security," Kuchcinski said.
"The European elections nine days ago changed the structure of power in the European Union. We are in the process of choosing the new shape of its central institutions. Ahead of us is the renewal of discussions about the EU budget for 2021-2027. The interests of countries in our region are consistent and clear," Stanislaw Karczewski, speaker of the Polish Senate, said during the discussions on Wednesday.
"We want a big budget for regional and agricultural policy, and equality of standards with countries from the European core -- both when it comes to the attitude of central EU institutions towards our sovereignty and traditions, and when it comes to the quality of goods and the freedom of services on the common market," he said.
A Polish initiative, such parliamentary summits have been organized in Warsaw since 2016. This year, Polish representatives said that in the future these summits could be held in other locations across the region.
