Arraiolos Group

The Arraiolos Group is an informal meeting of Presidents of parliamentary and semi-presidential European Union member states, held roughly once in a year. A political forum for the heads of state of parliamentary republics and also some semi-presidential republics (as opposed to constitutional monarchies or countries governed by a presidential system) whose role, according to the respective constitutions, may range from being significantly executive to largely ceremonial. It deals with questions and problems concerning the current state and future development of the EU as well as how to approach the challenges of globalisation.[1]

The name is derived from the small Portuguese town of Arraiolos, where the first meeting took place in 2003. Jorge Sampaio, then the President of Portugal, had invited the presidents of Finland, Germany, as well as of soon-to-be EU members Hungary, Latvia and Poland to discuss the consequences of the 2004 enlargement of the European Union and plans for a Constitution for Europe.[2]

Following the 2005 meeting, the seven participating presidents wrote a joint article titled "Together for Europe" about their conception of the European community. It was published on 15 July 2005 by Diena, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gazeta Wyborcza, Público, Helsingin Sanomat, la Repubblica and Der Standard, leading newspapers of the respective countries.[3]

The 14th meeting of the heads of state of the Arraiolos Group was held in Riga, Latvia in 2018.[4] The 15th meeting was held in Athens, Greece in October 2019.[5] The 16th meeting was held in Rome on 15 September 2021.[6] The 17th meeting was held in Valetta on 6 October 2022 [7]

Meetings
# Date Location held Host Host figure Attendees Notes
1 17–19 Oct 2003 Arraiolos  Portugal Jorge Sampaio [2][8]
2 22–24 Apr 2005 Helsinki  Finland Tarja Halonen [9][10]
3 4–5 Feb 2006 Dresden  Germany Horst Köhler [11][12][13][14]
4 10–11 Apr 2007 Riga  Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga [15][16]
5 29–30 Apr 2008 Graz  Austria Heinz Fischer [17]
6 12–13 Jun 2009 Naples  Italy Giorgio Napolitano [18]
7 8–9 Apr 2011 Budapest  Hungary Pál Schmitt [1][19]
8 10–11 Feb 2012 Helsinki  Finland Tarja Halonen [20][21]
9 8–9 Oct 2013 Kraków  Poland Bronisław Komorowski [22][23][24]
10 29–30 Sep 2014 Braga  Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva [25]
11 21–22 Sep 2015 Wartburg and Erfurt  Germany Joachim Gauck [26]
12 14–15 Sep 2016 Plovdiv and Sofia  Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev [27]
13 14–15 Sep 2017 Valletta and Rabat  Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca [28]
14 13–14 Sep 2018 Rundāle and Riga  Latvia Raimonds Vējonis [29]
15 10–11 Oct 2019 Athens  Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos [5]
16 15 Sep 2021 Rome  Italy Sergio Mattarella [6]
17 6 Oct 2022 Valletta  Malta George Vella
18 6 Oct 2023 Porto  Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa [30]

References
  1. "Tagung der Arraiolos-Gruppe in Budapest" (in German). bundespraesident.de. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  2. "Foreign Policy Events, 13–20 October 2003". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  3. "Gemeinsam für Europa". Der Standard (in German). 15 July 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  4. "Nine heads of state will visit next year". Latvian Public Broadcasting English-language service. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  5. "Announcement regarding the 15th Informal Meeting of Arraiolos Group Heads of State in Athens". Presidency of the Hellenic Republic (in Greek).
  6. "Vertice Arraiolos - Roma 2021".
  7. "Arraiolos 2022: 13 Presidents discuss war, security and inequality". Newsbook. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  8. "Press photo taken during the 2003 Arraiolos Meeting". Getty Images. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  9. "Photograph of the participants of the "Informal Meeting of the Heads of State in Finland from 22 to 24 April 2005"". bundespraesident.de. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  10. "Fischer bei Fünf-Präsidenten-Treffen in Helsinki". Der Standard (in German). 23 April 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  11. "Presseöffentliche Termine von Bundespräsident Dr. Heinz Fischer in der Woche vom 30. Jänner bis 05. Februar 2006" (in German). Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  12. "Bundespräsident Horst Köhler mit sechs Amtskollegen zu Gast im Landtag" (in German). Landtag of Saxony. 5 February 2006. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  13. Block, Simona (4 February 2006). "Gemeinsam für Europa in Dresden". Sächsische Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  14. "Staatspräsidenten werben gemeinsam für Europa". Handelsblatt (in German). 4 February 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  15. "Acht Staatspräsidenten diskutieren in Riga über Europas Zukunft" (in German). bundespraesident.at. 9 April 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  16. "European presidents meet in Riga". The Baltic Times (in German). 11 April 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  17. "Acht Staatspräsidenten treffen Ende April in Graz zusammen" (in German). Kleine Zeitung. 28 February 2008. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  18. "Teilnahme von Bundespräsident Dr. Heinz Fischer am informellen multilateralen Treffen in Neapel" (in German). 9 June 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  19. "Presidents of the Arraiolos Group 2011". gettyimages.com. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  20. "Arraiolos-Treffen in Helsinki" (in German). bundespraesident.de. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  21. "The President of Slovenia at the meeting of the Arraiolos Group". bivsi-predsednik.si. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  22. ""Arraiolos-Treffen" der Staatspräsidenten in Krakau" (in German). bundespraesident.de. 7 October 2013. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  23. "Arraiolos Group meets in Krakow". prezydent.pl. 8 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  24. "Nine Presidents Meet in Krakow". krakowpost.com. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  25. "Cavaco anfitrião de oito chefes de Estado em Braga" (in Portuguese). dn.de. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  26. "Treffen der Arraiolos-Gruppe" (in German). bundespraesident.de. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  27. "Президентът Росен Плевнелиев ще бъде домакин на 12-ата Среща на държавните ръководители на страните от групата "Арайолуш"" (in Bulgarian). president.bg. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  28. "Arraiolos Malta 2017 (official website)". arraiolos2017.com. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  29. "The Presidents of the EU Member States will discuss the future of Europe for two days in Latvia". Website of the President of Latvia. 13 September 2018. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  30. "Participation in the 18th Arraiolos meeting". Der Bundespraesident. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
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