Danko at V4+Austria Meeting Highlights Need for Cyber Security
Budapest, June 22 (TASR-correspondent) – A Slovak initiative concerning the issue of cyber security was received with great interest at an informal meeting of the heads of parliaments of the Visegrad Four (V4) group in Hungary on Friday, Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (SNS) told TASR on the same day.
The parliamentary chairs of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, Radek Vondracek, Laszlo Kover, Stanislaw Karczewski and Danko, respectively, as well as Vice-chair of the Polish Sejm (Parliament) Beata Mazurek and Austrian Parliamentary Chairman Wolfgang Sobotka met in the Hungarian tourist town of Balatonfured.
According to Danko, Slovakia during its upcoming one-year presidency of the V4 group, due to begin on July 1, will make sure that the V4 is the leader in the area of cyber security with the objective of combating extremism.
“Mr. Sobotka, whose country will preside over the Council of the EU, has acknowledged that cyber security, equal access to internet media and to the media as such are very serious issues,” said Danko.
The Slovak parliamentary chair also stressed the importance of introducing taxation of supranational companies operating on the internet. He said that developments and trends in some countries are leading some people to think that “freedom of expression in democracy means that they can do anything”.
Danko pointed out that the EU is about to draw up rules for internet-based media in the near future and that the V4 group is ready to support this initiative.
The Slovak parliamentary chair also highlighted the need to combat fake news on the internet. “I call on the relevant media to support these activities in the legislative area that will be carried out in the upcoming period because they will help all of you who are producing relevant news in contrast to those spreading complete … fabrications on the internet,” he said.
In addition to cyber security and online media, the heads of the V4 Parliaments and Sobotka also discussed migration and the future EU budget.
