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Central Europe
February 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
is now flirting with the far right by calling for
a referendum on whether the country should remain in the EU (though he says he would vote to stay in). Babis has indicated he might support a referendum bill, though not one on the EU.
Zeman has also become an apologist for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has led numerous trade delegations to Russia and China to try to build better trade links there.
The president has been dogged by allegations that his campaign was partly funded from Russian
Visegrad countries united in rejecting two-speed Europe
bne IntelliNews
The leaders of the Visegrad Group (V4) were on common ground rejecting the compulsory reloca- tion of refugees and the two-tier Europe concept, while stressing the need for a stronger Europe during their summit in Budapest on January 26.
Europe “needs to go back to the drawing board” because it has failed to achieve its goals, Hungar- ian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a panel discussion with his Visegrad Group counterparts, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, and Polish PM Mateusz Morawieck and the Czech Repub- lic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis (both attending their first V4 summits). Orban stressed the need for a clause for the creation of a labour-based society and said Europe must return to the top in terms of technological development.
sources, while the Kremlin has been accused of helping to spread online disinformation against his rival.
Drahos, by contrast, had firmly backed EU mem- bership and wants the country to stay facing West rather than East. In the final TV debate on Janu- ary 25 he hammered away at Zeman's controver- sial advisers, Martin Nejedly and Vladimir Mlynar. Nejedly used to run Russian LukOil's operations in the Czech Republic and was Zeman's key cam- paign fundraiser. Neither adviser has won the se- curity clearance that such aides normally require.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis attended his first V4 summit.
The Hungarian PM, who has been in a constant spat with Brussels over its policies on migration, has been a key advocate of closer integration between V4 countries. Orban wants Central Eu- rope to become stronger to counterbalance the German-French led EU.
He has repeatedly referred to the V4 countries as the fastest growing region within the EU and as the engine of future growth for Europe. Orban also needs allies as he has become increasingly isolat- ed in Western capitals due to Hungary's widening democratic deficit.
V4 leaders stood firm in rejecting a united states of Europe concept, saying decisions taken by country leaders cannot be ignored.