Visegrad Fund

The International Visegrad Fund is an inter­na­tional orga­ni­za­tion based in Bratislava founded by the gov­ern­ments of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries—the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland, and the Slovak Republic—in Štiřín, Czech Republic, on June 9, 2000.

Purpose

The pur­pose of the fund is to facil­i­tate and pro­mote the devel­op­ment of closer coop­er­a­tion among cit­i­zens and insti­tu­tions in the region as well as between the V4 region and other coun­tries, espe­cially in the Western Balkan and Eastern Partnership regions. The fund operates several grant programs, and also awards individual scholarships, fellowships and artist residencies. Grant sup­port is given to original projects namely in the areas of cul­ture, sci­ence and research, youth exchanges, cross-border cooperation and tourism pro­mo­tion, as well as in other priority areas defined in calls for proposals published on the fund’s website.

Budget

The fund’s annual budget (€8 mil­lion as of 2014) con­sists of equal con­tri­bu­tions of V4 gov­ern­ments. The fund also utilizes (in the form of subgranting or co-financing) contributions from other governments/governmental organizations from the following countries: Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States.

Target groups

Any natural person or legal entity is eligible to apply for grant support with the exception of organizations of state (central) administration institutions. Preference is generally given to those projects submitted by not-for-profit entities (NGOs/CSOs, foundations) and public institutions (schools and universities, research institutes, etc.). Applicants from outside of the V4 region can win support provided that their proposed projects deal with the V4 region and meet all formal requirements, such as having V4 project partners.