Latest news with #VisegradGroup
Budapest Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
President Sulyok: Hungary and Slovakia share goal of filling good neighborly relations with content
Following talks with his Slovak counterpart, Peter Pellegrini, in Bratislava on Thursday, President Tamás Sulyok said Hungary and Slovakia share the goal of 'filling good neighborly relations, built on mutual trust, with content despite challenges of the 21st century'. The president said the talks focused on bilateral ties and regional cooperation, with special regard to defence ties such as planning and exercises within the auspices of NATO. He noted that Hungary's contribution to the protection of Slovakia's airspace was 'an important security policy component'. President Sulyok said bilateral ties with Slovakia were improving with 'unprecedented intensity and mutual trust', and pointed to a 'vivacious political dialogue' and infrastructure developments on both sides of the Hungary-Slovakia border. He said Hungary will place special emphasis on the development of regional ties during its six-month presidency of the Visegrad Group, which it assumes on July 1. Sulyok also expressed hope that the central European cooperation would be given new momentum, and that the upcoming summit of V4 presidents would help deepen the grouping's strategic significance. President Sulyok said that at their talks, he and Pellegrini were in agreement on their support for speeding up the Western Balkans region's European integration, arguing that the region was crucial for European unity. Energy security, he said, was also crucial to both countries, adding that nuclear energy, the increased use of renewable resources and the expansion of infrastructure links could boost regional energy security. The V4 countries also had to be united in their opposition to migration as well as their push for the protection of the EU's external borders and the stabilisation of migrants' countries of origin. Meanwhile, President Sulyok said Hungary viewed both its ethnic Slovak minority and the ethnic Hungarian community in Slovakia as assets.
Budapest Times
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Bóka: Hungary did not join EU to abandon national interests and adopt a federalist plan
János Bóka said Visegrad cooperation "is important and still viable" as a countervailing force. János Bóka, the EU affairs minister, told a Visegrad Group event on Monday that Hungary did not join the European Union to abandon its national interests and adopt a federalist plan. In his speech opening this year's V4 Diplomacy Academy at the National University of Public Service (NKE) in Budapest, Bóka said that contrary to paying obeisance to the Robert Schumann model based on the German-French reconciliation and the duo's dominance of Europe, central Europeans wanted to reunite Europe by joining the bloc in 2004 and shaping legislation that determines European life. But, he said, now the forces of centralisation were in conflict with the idea of cooperation between sovereign member states. Central Europe's historical experiences differed from those of Western Europe, where the prevailing fear was that nationalism led to wars, he said, adding that national sentiment and the nation state 'are positive concepts in central Europe,' which ensured survival against dictatorship. The minister said the current EU bureaucracy had become a political actor and was trying to govern Europe in an increasingly politicised way. Some decisions, he added, were based on satisfying the interests of left-wing forces that derive their ideology from the events of 1968. Visegrad cooperation 'is important and still viable' as a countervailing force, he said, adding that the V4 could still play an important role in better enforcing their interests, despite the differences between its member states.
TimesLIVE
09-06-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Poland's new president hopes for good relations with Hungary's Orban
Hungary is an important partner for Poland, newly elected Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, told a Hungarian magazine in his first foreign interview, adding he would be building co-operation within the regional Visegrad Group. The Visegrad Group, comprising Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, took a back seat after Prime Minister Donald Tusk's liberal coalition took power in 2023 from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had close relations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Eurosceptic Nawrocki narrowly won the Polish presidential election this month, delivering a big blow to the efforts of Tusk's centrist government to cement Warsaw's pro-European orientation. Orban on Friday said Nawrocki's victory was 'fantastically good', hailing the success of an ally of US President Donald Trump. 'Hungary is a very important partner for Poland ... We are facing serious tasks, such as building the Visegrad Group, which will be an important format for me, as well as strengthening (military alliance) Nato's eastern flank and the Bucharest Nine,' Nawrocki told Hungarian news outlet Mandiner in the interview. 'I certainly wish to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is a very effective politician, as proven by his repeated election results in Hungary. And I count on good co-operation with him, just as with other countries, in the interest of the region.' It was not yet clear what Nawrocki's policy on Ukraine would be, but he reiterated that he opposed Kyiv's plans to join the EU. Poland supports Ukraine strategically, because 'the greatest threat to me, as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation,' he said. He added that 'Ukraine must also understand that other countries — including Poland, Hungary, and other European nations — have interests of their own.'
Reuters
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Poland's new president hopes for good relations with Hungary's Orban
WARSAW, June 9 (Reuters) - Hungary is an important partner for Poland, newly elected Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, told a Hungarian magazine in his first foreign interview, adding he would be building cooperation within the regional Visegrad Group. The Visegrad Group, comprising Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, took a back seat after Prime Minister Donald Tusk's liberal coalition took power in 2023 from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had close relations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Eurosceptic Karol Nawrocki narrowly won the Polish presidential election this month, delivering a big blow to the efforts of Donald Tusk's centrist government to cement Warsaw's pro-European orientation. Orban on Friday said Nawrocki's victory was "fantastically good," hailing the success of an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. "Hungary is a very important partner for Poland... We are facing serious tasks, such as building the Visegrad Group, which will be an important format for me, as well as strengthening (military alliance) NATO's eastern flank and the Bucharest Nine," Nawrocki told Hungarian news outlet Mandiner in the interview. "I certainly wish to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is a very effective politician, as proven by his repeated election results in Hungary. And I count on good cooperation with him, just as with other countries, in the interest of the region." It was not yet clear what Nawrocki's policy on Ukraine would be, but he reiterated that he opposed Kyiv's plans to join the European Union. Poland supports Ukraine strategically, because "the greatest threat to me, as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation," he said. He added that "Ukraine must also understand that other countries – including Poland, Hungary, and other European nations – have interests of their own."
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poland's new president hopes for good relations with Hungary's Orban
WARSAW (Reuters) -Hungary is an important partner for Poland, newly elected Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, told a Hungarian magazine in his first foreign interview, adding he would be building cooperation within the regional Visegrad Group. The Visegrad Group, comprising Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, took a back seat after Prime Minister Donald Tusk's liberal coalition took power in 2023 from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had close relations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Eurosceptic Karol Nawrocki narrowly won the Polish presidential election this month, delivering a big blow to the efforts of Donald Tusk's centrist government to cement Warsaw's pro-European orientation. Orban on Friday said Nawrocki's victory was "fantastically good," hailing the success of an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. "Hungary is a very important partner for Poland... We are facing serious tasks, such as building the Visegrad Group, which will be an important format for me, as well as strengthening (military alliance) NATO's eastern flank and the Bucharest Nine," Nawrocki told Hungarian news outlet Mandiner in the interview. "I certainly wish to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is a very effective politician, as proven by his repeated election results in Hungary. And I count on good cooperation with him, just as with other countries, in the interest of the region." It was not yet clear what Nawrocki's policy on Ukraine would be, but he reiterated that he opposed Kyiv's plans to join the European Union. Poland supports Ukraine strategically, because "the greatest threat to me, as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation," he said. He added that "Ukraine must also understand that other countries – including Poland, Hungary, and other European nations – have interests of their own."
