The prime ministers of the Visegrad Four Group (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) held their summit in Slovakia to discuss a number of key issues.

V4 prime ministers focused on the refugee and the energy crises, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland, among other issues, at their summit in Kosice (Kassa) on Thursday. Slovakia’s prime minister, as the host of the event, opened the joint press conference after the meeting.

Eduard Heger highlighted that the meeting was extremely constructive. Slovakia’s prime minister thanked the other three states for helping to protect Slovakia’s airspace and to guarantee the country’s energy security, ujszo.com reported.

In addition, Slovakia’s premier asked for assistance in the field of healthcare. „I asked colleagues to send doctors to our hospitals if needed,” Mr Heger said. The other three prime ministers agreed to lend some of their hospital capacities in the border regions to Slovakia if necessary, according to the report.

The war in Ukraine greatly threatens the security of Europe and the V4 countries, Mr Heger said, adding that the European security framework and the need to strengthen NATO were also discussed.

There was agreement on this, we support the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO,

ma7.sk wrote, quoting Mr Heger, who added that due to the growing migration pressure from the south, the premiers agreed to help Hungary in any way they can.

„There will be a next meeting, and we will develop our future together,”

Slovakia’s prime minister concluded his press briefing, ma7.sk reported.

The Czech prime minister highly appreciated that contentious issues were clarified, which could further strengthen future cooperation. Petr Fiala said that they agreed that Ukraine is in need of help, ma7.sk wrote.

„There were differences of opinion on the ways to assist, but the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is important to all of us,”

Mr Fiala said, adding that V4 cooperation must continue both at the prime ministerial and the ministerial levels.

Specific and difficult issues connect the Visegrad countries, and it is easier to address these questions together, raher than separately. So the V4 Group still has a future, Viktor Orban said after the meeting, Hungary’s state news agency (MTI) reported. The common challenges are illegal migration, the energy crisis, preventing economic recession and protecting the Schengen external borders, Hungary’s PM said.

Hungary supports the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, which will be voted on in the first parliamentary session of 2023, Mr Orban noted.

“Sweden and Finland have not lost a single minute because of Hungary,” and will not lose any either as Hungary will certainly give them the support they need to join, he said.

Regarding the EU debate on the rule of law, the Hungarian premier said that the negotiations are progressing well, and the country has fulfilled all the conditions it had previously undertaken. They are now waiting for a decision at the Commission meeting on 30 November, Mr Orban said.

„We have delivered on everything we committed and agreed to,” he pointed out.

He also revealed that in addition to the previous 17 commitments, an 18th one has been added, which Hungary will meet in March.

On support for Ukraine, Mr Orban said: Hungary supports its north-eastern neighbour financially, and has already earmarked funds for this, but it does not support the European Union taking out loans.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also stressed the importance of V4 cooperation at the beginning of his speech.

“Many people say how different we are, but we have to think about what we have in common, what we can do together,”

ma7.sk quoted the Polish premier as saying. Mr Morawiecki spoke at length about the war in Ukraine, calling on the European Commission to provide financial support to the V4 countries to help them deal with the influx of refugees from Ukraine. The Polish PM stressed that the V4 „common denominator” is that Ukraine must preserve its territorial integrity, and he also emphasised that Hungary will ratify the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden in the near future. Mr Morawiecki thanked Viktor Orban for this. In conclusion, he stressed the constructive dialogue they had today in Kosice, ma7.sk reports.