Foreign Policies

Leaders of V4 Parliaments: V4 Group Not Questioning EU Membership

Kosice, October 13 (TASR) – The Visegrad Four (V4) states are supporting the European Union and aren’t casting doubts on EU membership, stated Slovak Parliamentary Chair Andrej Danko (SNS) on Saturday following an informal summit of the parliamentary leaders of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, which took place in Kosice.

“Within the V4 we’re trying to identify the issues in order to simplify communication with the European institutions,” said Danko.

The summit in Kosice saw talks concerning a meeting of heads of parliaments in the V4+Germany+France format, which is due to take place in Bratislava in mid-November.

“At a meeting with German and French officials we will strive for addressing the issue of improving the relations between national parliaments and the European Parliament,” said Danko.

Leaders of the V4 Parliaments further concurred that the EU institutions should work and act in line with their powers. In this context Marshal of the Polish Sejm Marek Kuchcinski criticised the recent vote of the European Union Parliament triggering a punitive procedure against Hungary for persistently flouting democratic rules.

Danko in this regard praised a resolution adopted by the Czech Chamber of Deputies describing the EP resolution on Hungary as wrong and unfortunate. “After a responsible political debate I will try to initiate such a step also in our country,” said Danko, adding that any possible sanctions for Hungary should be imposed only after all democratic tools available are used up.

Vice-chairman of the Hungarian Parliament Janos Latorcai stressed that V4 should engage itself in EU policies especially at the time when the Union isn’t completely unified in certain issues. “We’re submitting constructive solutions, we don’t want to divide states, but return them to the basic ideas of the EU,” said Latorcai.

Representatives of the V4 parliaments also discussed the migration and security issues at the summit.

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