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The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said Tuesday that the four Central European countries are deeply divided over Russia’s war against Ukraine and how to resolve the conflict.
The four post-communist countries form an informal grouping of European Union and NATO members known as the Visegrad Four.
While the Czech Republic and Poland agree on their firm support for Ukraine, including the provision of arms, Hungary and Slovakia’s views are very different.
“I think you can say that there are differences between us,” said Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who hosted the talks in Prague.
“We’re not going to make any secrets,” Fiala said. “It would be pointless to have different views on the causes of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how to resolve it.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is a war criminal and the only reason for the war in Ukraine is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” “Regardless of how strong Russia remains, the political, moral and historical assessment of what is happening in Ukraine today must be clear.”
Slovakia and Hungary have refused to supply arms and ammunition to Ukraine.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Roberto Fico said the Western countries’ approach to the war was a “total failure”. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has close ties with Russia.
“I do not believe in a military solution to the Ukraine conflict,” Fico said. He said the EU should have a peace plan against war.
Fico, a left-wing populist, has previously criticized Russia for the causes of the war in Ukraine, including Putin’s baseless claims that the current Ukrainian government runs a Nazi state and that ethnic Russians living in the country’s east need protection. has repeatedly made this claim.
He also opposes EU sanctions against Russia and wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. He said that no matter how many Western weapons are injected into Ukraine, the tide of the war will not change.
“The war can only end through negotiations,” said Orbán, a nationalist conservative populist. “The sooner the peace talks, the better,” he said.
Fico and Orbán did not say how this could be achieved in the current situation.
“We know who the perpetrators are and we know who the victims are,” Fiala said earlier in the day after another meeting with Tusk. “It is clear that we stand ready to strongly support Ukraine and are ready to explore all possible ways to further strengthen our support.”
“In this region, which has recently become very complex, it is important that we have two capitals that speak with one voice on virtually all issues,” Tusk said. We have been speaking with one voice about Ukraine, about Russian aggression, about responsibility for this tragedy since the beginning of this conflict. ”
Poland said it is ready to contribute to Czech plans to obtain much-needed ammunition for Ukraine from third countries outside the European Union.
Mr. Fiala and Mr. Tusk also welcomed Monday’s vote in the Hungarian parliament to approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO, a setback for the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. This ended a delay of more than 18 months.
Associated Press’ Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.
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