The Visegrad Four (V4) countries on Saturday agreed that border checks within the EU should be abolished.

The presidents attending the V4 presidential summit in Landy also expressed the hope that the United States should get rid of its visa requirements for citizens of the V4 countries, namely, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

The presidents agreed that concerted, rather than separate, efforts must be made to strive for their interests within the EU.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said at a press conference Saturday that their goals are not "empty", since the v4 countries are close neighbors and share similar history.

The era when each country tried to benefit separately is gone now, Klaus said.

Noting that seeking equal treatment for old and new EU countries is difficult, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said it is necessary for them to pool their efforts together.

V4 marks its 15th anniversary this year.

The next V4 presidential meeting will be hosted by Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom in 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2006)