2019.06.13 Budapest | Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki paid a visit to Budapest, where he took part in a meeting of the heads of governments of the Visegrad Group countries. Photo by Adam Guz / KPRM
The Visegrad Group countries, made up of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czechia, have been a strong force within the EU, pushing for policies targeted at helping Eastern Europe. But there has been some recent discontent among the bloc, as Poland and Czechia are unhappy with the Hungarian government’s decision to remain neutral in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Hungary was forced to cancel a planned Visegrad Group meeting, as both Poland and Czechia refused to attend in protest of Hungary’s position. Bloomberg’s Zoltan Simon reports:
Hungary was due to host the defense chiefs of the so-called Visegrad Group in Budapest for a two-day meeting starting Wednesday. The event will take place later after the Czech and Polish defense ministers withdrew, Hungary’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, without giving the date. The group of four countries also includes Slovakia.
Orban has ruled out sending weapons to Ukraine and rejected the expansion of economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion to include energy supplies, driving a wedge between the Hungarian leader and what were his few remaining allies in the EU.
“We have a problem with a common view on a very important matter, and this worries us all very, very much,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina told reporters in Warsaw on Tuesday. “We very strongly emphasize our stance toward Ukraine. Unfortunately Prime Minister Orban and Hungarian politicians emphasize theirs.”
