On June 16th, 2011 at the Central Military Club in Sofia was held an international conference, entitled “Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Western Balkans: Implementing the V4 Experience”. The event was organized by the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria (ACB) in co-operation with the embassies of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland in Bulgaria and with the support of Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. It was held on the occasion of the 20th anniversaries of the foundation of both the ACB and the Visegrad Group.

The goal of the conference was to reaffirm the key importance of regional co-operation in the process of further enlargement of the EU and NATO and to give directions and management recommendations for the countries in the Western Balkans (WB), by using as an example the mutual co-operation between the countries comprising the Visegrad Four (V4). The conference was realized with the special support of the International Visegrad Fund.

The conference speakers were representatives of leading organizations in the field of international relations and civil society organizations from Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as renowned academics, who took part in the program with keynote speeches, debates, and panel discussions. The audience ranged from scholars, civil society practitioners and private sector figures, diplomatic and political representatives, journalists, and other stakeholders, interested in international relations.