The renowned magazine comments on the situation in V4: It’s 2 + 2 before! And this is how Slovakia – Topky.sk perceives

On some issues, this Central European grouping still finds common ground. However, the two countries are already thinking and acting very differently, states Politico analysis. “The Vyšehrad group of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic is known as V4, but it becomes a 2 + 2 group.” The Czech Minister for European Affairs Mikuláš Bek also spoke about the split: “Poland and Hungary are in serious conflict with the rest of Europe. The Czech Republic and Slovakia do not play the same note.”

Disagreement on environmental issues

The main difference is to look at the rule of law from the point of view of the European Union. “As far as the rule of law is concerned, Slovakia and now the Czech Republic are on a different wave than Hungary and Poland. Both governments have a very strong interest in strengthening, not undermining, the EU.” said an unnamed Slovak politician. In this context, the dispute between the Czech Republic and Poland over the Turów coal mines is mentioned. The grouping also divides the view of Russia and China or even access to Eurofunds.

Bane Turow

Change in government leadership

Volume V4 is released following the change of government in Prague and Bratislava. After years of Smer rule, Igor Matovič from OľaNO first became the prime minister in Slovakia, who was replaced less than a year ago by Eduard Heger. In November, Andrej Babiš, who had been criticized by Brussels for a long time, ended up at the head of the Czech government. Peter Fiala is now with our prime minister. The EU institutions, meanwhile, are suing Poland and Hungary for fears that these countries are violating European values ​​such as the independence of the judiciary, media pluralism and academic freedom.

The Slovak Minister of the Environment, Ján Budaj, assessed the change in the political leadership of the Czech Republic as “great encouragement”. “Now the balance of power has changed from two to two,” he commented on the address of the Visegrad Four. According to a new analysis, this was an important diplomatic tool for Warsaw and Budapest at a time when they are becoming increasingly isolated. Four Member States still agree on some issues, such as criticism of mobility packages, which they say weaken Central European logistics companies, or efforts to promote more favorable conditions for nuclear energy. However, according to Eugeniusz Smolar from the Warsaw Research Institute Center for International Relations, there are growing political and cultural differences within the group. “There are common themes, but any love has long since disappeared,” he said.