Czech foreign minister suggests V4 should table solutions

Czech Minister of foreign affairs Martin Stropnický has suggested that the Visegrad Four regional grouping should present its own solutions to European Union problems. He added that they should not just take a common stand against policies. Stropnický was speaking after meeting with his Hungarian counterpart in Prague, Péter Szijjartó, on Thursday.

It was their first meeting since Stropnický took up his new post in government. Both ministers stressed the importance of the regional grouping which embraces the two countries as well as Poland and Slovakia.

Szijjartó thanked the Czech Republic for its support on migration. Hungary has refused to take immigrants under the EU’s proposals to share out most of those who fled their countries and are now mostly in Italy and Greece.

Hungary, which is currently chairing the V4 group, has also taken a stand against United Nations plans on migrants which the international body hopes will form the basis for a global compact.

The Hungarian minister was later due to meet with the Czech minister for labour and social affairs, minister of defence, and also outgoing prime minister Andrej Babiš.