Page 32 - bne_Magazine_March_2018

32 I Central Europe bne March 2018
www.visegradgroup.eu
Visegrad countries united in rejecting two-speed Europe concept and migration quotas
V4 leaders stood firm in their concept rejecting united states of Europe concept, saying decisions taken by country leaders cannot be ignored.
EU institutions should treat all member states equally and act strictly within the remits of their respective competencies. The right of member states to carry out domestic reforms within their compe- tences should be respected,” the V4's joint declaration read.
The view of a strong Europe based on the cooperation of integrated sover- eign states was echoed by Mateusz Morawiecki, who also called for the creation of Europe's own defence force to be used against terrorism, the migra- tion crisis and “Eastern aggression”, referring to Russia.
Hungary and Poland, allies for centuries, are at loggerheads with Brussels over many issues, with the populist govern- ments of the “illiberal axis” Central European states seeking to push back
EU power to retain national sovereignty.
Hungary's has received sharp warnings for its controversial NGO law and attacks on civil society, while Poland has come under scrutiny since the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party won the election in late 2015 and swiftly acted to tighten control over publicly-owned media, as well as the judiciary.
The European Commission has triggered the “nuclear option” against Warsaw in December, which may lead to stripping Poland of its voting rights in the EU. Budapest has already made it clear that it would veto such decisions and the
bne IntelliNews
The leaders of the Visegrad
Group (V4) were on common ground rejecting the compulsory relocation of refugees and the two-tier Europe concept, while stressing the need for a stronger Europe during their sum- mit in Budapest on January 26.
Europe “needs to go back to the draw- ing board” because it has failed to achieve its goals, Hungarian 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 Czech Republic'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 tech- nological development.
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The Hungarian PM, who has been in a constant spat with Brussels over its poli- cies on migration has been a key advo- cate of closer integration between V4 countries. Orban wants Central Europe to become stronger to counterbalance the German-French led EU.
“Europe “needs to go back to the drawing board” because it has failed to achieve its goals”
He has repeatedly referred to V4 countries as the fastest growing region within the EU and as the engine of future growth for Europe. Orban needs allies
as he has become increasingly isolated
in Western capitals due to Hungary's widening democratic deficit.
Polish government has done the same after the European Parliament adopted a resolution to trigger Article 7 against Hungary in May after the government approved controversial legislation
on asylum seekers and NGOs and the Central European University.