Polish PM seeks to revive Visegrad Group

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Brussels on Thursday that the leaders of the Visegrad Group (V4) would meet ahead of the EU summit as Warsaw seeks to reinvigorate the regional bloc.

Donald Tusk. Fot. PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Donald Tusk. Fot. PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Tusk announced he wanted to restore cooperation within the group because Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary "share several issues that need to be addressed at the European level."

"We are holding the first V4 meeting in years, here in Brussels," Tusk told reporters before the start of a two-day EU summit in the Belgian capital.

The meeting will be the first EU gathering attended by Hungary's new prime minister, Peter Magyar.

"This is a special moment, both for Peter Magyar and for me since I really want to 'unfreeze' this group," Tusk said.

V4 meetings, traditionally held before EU summits, have largely been suspended since 2022 due to disagreements over the previous Hungarian government's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The gatherings are informal and serve as a forum for coordinating regional positions on European issues.

Magyar expressed his willingness to strengthen V4 cooperation during a visit to Warsaw, his first foreign trip since taking office as Hungary's prime minister. (PAP)

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