November 25 – NVL. The heads of government of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland agreed that the territorial unity of Ukraine must be preserved and that the war raging there must end as soon as possible, and that Russia cannot pose a threat to Europe. The meeting was held in Kosice (Slovakia) on 24 November. Discussed issues related to Ukraine, the energy crisis, illegal migration and relations with EU funds
The heads called it important and necessary for the future cooperation of the countries of the Vyshgorod Four. Despite disagreements on some issues, they fundamentally agree on the war in Ukraine.
Mateusz Morawiecki, Polish Prime Minister, called the V4 meeting particularly constructive, and despite the fact that lately there has been talk everywhere about the differences in the views of the Visegrad Four countries, at a joint meeting in Kosice, they confirmed that they need each other. Their countries, when held together, have always been winners, Morawiecki said.
Also, the Polish Prime Minister noted that he and his partners agree that “the war in Ukraine must end as soon as possible”, but at the same time must maintain its territorial integrity. He also added that during the war, a new wave of refugees from Ukraine can be expected. Therefore, he asks the European Commission to take preliminary steps to cope with the flow of new refugees and to help the countries concerned more actively. He also reported on the increasing illegal migration from the south, which is a serious challenge.
There was a lot of talk at the V4 meeting about the funds of the European Union, the distribution of which should be fair, the Prime Minister of Poland said, now the distribution is not fair for some of us. Adding that EU members should look at all participants equally.
Petr Fiala, the Czech Prime Minister, said that there is a sense and a future in V4 cooperation, and their joint activities will continue at the ministerial level. He said that the meeting was very important and they managed to hold an open dialogue in Kosice on issues on which everyone has their own position. They managed to reach an agreement on issues relating to Ukraine, especially on the need to preserve its territorial integrity and provide it with financial and military assistance.
Petr Fiala said that there are also energy problems, they want their countries not to be affected by energy prices and also want to increase the stability of energy systems and get rid of dependence on Russia.
Eduard Heger, Prime Minister of Slovakia, said he has asked for help from V4 partners to overcome the health crisis due to the fact that the Slovak authorities could not reach a final agreement with medical unions, which put forward demands for higher wages for workers in the medical institution, as a result, more than 2,000 doctors applied for layoffs.
Source : Novostivl
