Index – Foreign – “I wouldn’t call the Hungarian government our ally”, said the foreign minister of the Czech Republic

At the beginning of March, a foreign newspaper reported that a meeting of the heads of government of the Visegrád Four (V4) had escalated into shouting matches, at which the war in Ukraine was also discussed. Viktor Orbán’s press chief later denied that this had indeed happened.

444 has just conducted an interview with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, who also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Friday. Among other things, they asked whether the news was true.

The Czech minister said: “I wasn’t there, so I can’t confirm this”. Not long after, however, when asked if they considered the government to be their ally, he said:

I would not call the Hungarian government an ally of the Czech government. But that depends on what you mean by ally. If you look at it, in NATO we call all partners allies. In any case, we strive to establish a fair relationship and discuss all important issues.

Among other things, Jan Lipavsky told 444 that:

• “AV is not an association, but a discussion platform. The cooperation of four Central European states, which was started 30 years ago by personalities such as Lech Walesa and József Antall”. He added that, in his opinion, this community should be based on common values ​​and on practical issues such as migration, because there they can find a common position.
• “I am not aware of a breach of trust in NATO. At the same time, each state is responsible for its own security. I currently consider Russian imperialism to be the greatest threat to European security. I say this everywhere, I also told Minister Szijjártó today,” he said.
• “The majority of Czech society is critical of Viktor Orbán’s government. At the same time, he would probably find someone who would say that he thinks the Hungarian government’s policy is good, and would give an example of the protection of sovereignty,” he said about what the Czechs think about the relationship between Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin.
• “Russian imperialism has existed for centuries. I do not want us to repeat the policy of appeasement before the Second World War. Czechoslovakia was given to Adolf Hitler in 1938, but this did not bring peace, but world war. Whatever results Putin would achieve would only feed the beast,” he said.
• “I think it was a mistake to politicize V4 so much. Orbán consciously used the group for his political purposes, which he tried to set up as a kind of conservative bloc. However, this was a mistake. Orbán is probably looking for an explanation for what happened after his conservative project failed,” he said.
• Regarding whether the veto should be abolished in EU decision-making, he said that the future of the EU should be discussed, although he also does not like the proposals raised so far.

On the topic of the right of veto, by the way, the deputy of the Polish foreign minister recently said that he considers Hungary to be a pro-Russian country.

Follow Index on Facebook too!

I’m following you!