V4-Gipfel
The prime ministers of the Visegrád states (V4) only agreed on one thing at their summit in Prague: the Russians are violating international law with their aggression in Ukraine.
However, Czech host Petr Fiala remained alone with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk on the supposed reasons for the Russian attack. The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, like the Hungarian Viktor Orbán, refuses any military aid to the attacked Ukraine. However, these two V4 countries are also prepared to provide aid to Ukraine, which they have been providing extremely intensively in humanitarian form for two years.
Thanks for revival
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán thanked the Czechs for “reviving” the V4 group with the meeting. Hungary is ready to support the future of the V4 by focusing on the similarities. Regarding the Ukraine war, he made it clear that Hungary did not want a common border with Russia, simply because of its bad historical experiences. “It is one of the basic tenets of our national security policy to maintain an entity between Hungary and Russia in the east of us. So we are also helping Ukraine out of Hungarian interests.”
Fiala was not happy
In the run-up to the Prague summit, several statements caused anger. Fiala told the media flatly that he did not particularly enjoy meeting with counterparts who approach crucial issues in a very different way. While Orbán remained silent regarding this criticism, Fico biliously commented on the Czech Prime Minister’s trip to Paris that Slovakia would not send any soldiers to Ukraine. (In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron’s outrageous move only became known in the evening, for which the Czech government obviously understands.) At the joint V4 press conference on Tuesday, however, when asked by journalists, all four prime ministers declared that they would not send soldiers to the country Ukraine to plan.
Hungary is sending neither weapons nor soldiers
On the Hungarian side, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also announced from Prague on Tuesday morning: “Our position is crystal clear and cannot be shaken by anything: we are not sending weapons or soldiers to Ukraine. It’s not regarding expanding the war, it’s regarding ending it as quickly as possible.” Aside from Ukraine, there are important similarities between the V4 states, among which Szijjártó shares the positions on illegal immigration, the use of nuclear energy and the protection of farmers and named for the low taxes.
Immediately following the V4 summit, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met the former Czech Presidents Václav Klaus and Milos Zeman in Prague.
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