“We are destined for cooperation and, I believe, for success as well,” said Prime Minister Robert Fico following bilateral discussions – which included the topics of Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine – with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, in Budapest.
During their bilateral debate behind closed doors, which lasted over an hour longer than initially planned, the delegations mainly focused on the topic of Ukraine but also touched on the situation in Israel and Palestine.
Fico emphasised that the Visegrad Group (V4) – a group of Central European states composed of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia – is precisely the format that should look for solutions to current problems in the region since “unfortunately, the European Union does not provide such solutions today.”
Fico maintains that V4 cooperation was “deliberately disabled.”
Visegrad leaders meeting would not bring results, says Czech PM
A prime ministerial meeting of the Visegrad Group, consisting of Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, has not yet been convened as it would not produce any results, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
This is also a reason why he wants to put pressure on the prime minister of the Czech Republic to convene the presidency of the Visegrad Group and look for a way of understanding in Warsaw as well.
Only he and Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán are interested in the functioning of V4, believes Fico, adding that V4 is therefore currently turning into V2.
Fico feels ‘marginalised’ in EU
Although Fico shares Orbán’s view of Ukraine in Brussels, unlike the Hungarian prime minister, he has supported a joint approach and voted to open accession negotiations for Ukraine at the December summit.
However, Fico keeps a bolder stance on the domestic front, unrelentingly criticising Ukraine, labelling it as “one of the most corrupt countries in the world.”
“(The situation in) Ukraine does not have a military solution, and the current strategy is not working,” Fico told the media in Budapest. Stopping military aid to Ukraine was one of the main topics that won the September parliamentary elections for his Smer party.
In addition to the need to defend sovereignty, at the press conference, Fico stressed that Slovakia, under his leadership, would not support the abolition of the possibility of member states vetoing majority decisions. He emphasised the alliance between Slovakia and Hungary in this area as well.
“Dear Robert, thank you for your help with migrants, and I ask you to continue helping us in this way,” Viktor Orbán said at a press conference, adding that since 2012, he and Fico had met 33 times. “Maybe that’s a European record,” he voiced.
On Wednesday, Fico will be leaving for Davos, Switzerland, where, according to his own words, “a different approach” awaits him. He claims that the European community marginalises him for his views.
“If we don’t stand up to this policy that whoever has a different opinion and who doesn’t respect one opinion is excluded from good society, then God protects the European Union,” he said.
The EU Parliament should also adopt a resolution on Wednesday regarding the Slovak government’s efforts to abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office and changes in the Criminal Code. The European Parliament already discussed the topic in December.
According to Fico, the discussion in the EU House is only the effort of the opposition Slovak MEPs to stop the flow of European funds to Slovakia.
In February, Hungary is awaiting a similar vote in Brussels to stop the flow of European money. For this to happen, all member states must take this position. But in Budapest, Fico emphasised that he would support Hungary on these issues.
(Lucia Yar | Euractiv.sk)
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Croatia, Italy, Slovenian interior ministers to jointly combat irregular migration in regionThe three interior ministers of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia agreed to expand their border control cooperation to Western Balkan countries – a popular migration route – to crack down on irregular migration.
Source: euractiv.com
