Arraiolos Group in Kraków

The Meeting of Heads of State of the Arraiolos Group was held on Friday 11 October at the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków, hosted by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and his wife.

The Arraiolos Group was established in 2003 as the initiative of the President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio. The name is derived from the Portuguese town where the first meeting of the Presidents of Germany, Austria, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Hungary and Italy took place. More countries joined since then because the Group being informal has no officially established list of participants.

The meetings of the Arraiolos Group, although informal, are a platform for the exchange of opinions, experiences and visions. They are also an opportunity to discuss the future of the European Union and global challenges, as well as the current agenda of the European Union.

The Arraiolos Group includes countries with different historical backgrounds, economic and demographic potentials and, consequently, often different perceptions of the current challenges and dilemmas of Europe. The exchange of experiences and views, can lead to a constructive search for answers to the challenges faced by Europe, which today are mainly security issues and problems related to migration.

The main topic of the discussions at this year's meeting in Kraków was the prospects for strengthening and deepening transatlantic relations in times of global challenges. That issue is related to the first priority of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council: strengthening cooperation between the European Union and the United States of America. Other priorities are: EU enlargement and EU involvement in the rebuilding of Ukraine, and ensuring EU energy security, while respecting the principles of a just transition. The previous meeting, in 2023, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Arraiolos Group, was hosted by Portugal (Porto). The meeting in Kraków took place less than four months before the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place in the first half of 2025.