Visegrad PMs, NATO Chief Meet In Bratislava

Prime Ministers Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic (left to right), Donald Tusk of Poland, Viktor Orban of Hungary, and Robert Fico of Slovakia attend a press conference in Budapest in January.

The prime ministers of four Central European countries, as well as NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, are scheduled to speak in Bratislava at a major security conference, called Globsec 2014.

The three-day event is largely focused on dealing with security threats posed by the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

The May 15 agenda begins with a panel session bringing together the prime ministers of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, titled "Visegrad Up: Finding Common Grounds in Times of Crisis."

Rasmussen's keynote speech is titled "Standing Up for Freedom and Security."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was scheduled to speak on May 15, the second day of the conference, but has reportedly canceled his visit.

The Visegrad Group, also called the Visegrad Four, is an alliance of four Central European states -- Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia -- founded in 1991 to further their European integration as well as advancing their military, economic, and energy cooperation with one another.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, and ITAR-TASS