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The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia left their meeting in Prague on Tuesday, predictably divided over the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The four Central European countries, all once satellite states of the communist Soviet Union, are now members of the European Union and NATO, and form an informal political alliance known as the Visegrad Four (V4). It is forming.
But while Poland and the Czech Republic are united in their staunch support for Ukraine, populist leaders in Hungary and Slovakia are more skeptical.
Poland and Czech Republic clearly state “Russian invasion”
“I think you can say that there are differences between us,” said Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who hosted the meeting in the Czech capital. “We have no intention of making it a secret. It makes no sense that we have different views on the causes of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how to solve it.”
Newly elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and said the only cause of the Ukraine war was “Russian aggression.”
Shortly after the Russian invasion in February 2022, Poland quickly opened its borders and has since accepted more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees.
“Regardless of how strong Russia remains, the political, moral and historical assessment of what is happening in Ukraine today must be clear,” Tusk said.
Hungary and Slovakia call for “peace talks”
However, Slovakia and Hungary have so far refused to provide arms and ammunition to Ukraine, and populist leaders such as left-wing Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian nationalist conservative Viktor Orbán have expressed concern about the Russian invasion. has been expressed.
“I do not believe in a military solution to the Ukraine conflict,” Fico said, calling the West’s collective approach to the war an “absolute failure” and calling for an EU peace plan.
Fico has previously cited Putin’s unsubstantiated claims that the current Ukrainian government is run by “Nazis” and that ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine needed “protection” from the Nazis, leading to the war. I have been parroting the Kremlin’s story about.
He says no amount of Western weapons injected into Ukraine will change the course of the war, opposes EU sanctions against Russia and wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
Prime Minister Orban, who has forged close ties with President Putin and supported the EU’s latest support package for Ukraine, also called for peace negotiations, saying, “The sooner the better.”
Poland’s Fang: ‘We would still be living under occupation’
Mr. Tusk spoke with Mr. Orban and Mr. Fico and recalled the common past that the four countries shared as satellite states of the Soviet Union until 1989.
“If we accept Moscow’s view as presented by President Putin, neither Slovakia nor the Czech Republic nor Hungary nor Poland will become independent states, and we will still be under occupation,” he said. Stated.
The four leaders agreed that none of them is considering sending their own troops to Ukraine, but French President Emmanuel Macron controversially announced on Monday that he was ruling out the possibility. He was refusing.
But Poland and the Czech Republic said they remained steadfast in their support for Ukraine.
“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.”
For example, Poland has said it is willing to contribute to Czech plans to obtain ammunition for Ukraine from outside the European Union.
“We have been speaking with one voice since the beginning of this conflict about Ukraine, about Russian aggression, about responsibility for this tragedy,” Tusk said.
What is Visegrad Four?
The Visegrad 4 Alliance was established in February 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The name comes from the Hungarian town of Visegrad, where the leaders of Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia at the time met.
This location was chosen because it was also the location of the Council of Visegrad in 1335, which brought together the rulers of Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia (Czech Republic).
After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the newly established Czech Republic and Slovakia became independent members of the group, and in 2004 all four countries joined the European Union.
MF/MSH (AFP, DPA)
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