The Return of the Visegrad Four (V4)

https://apnews.com/article/central-european-leaders-meet-hungary-visegrad-summit-f0171d43c8aa5fbd2f285e42dffae190

This certainly caught my eye. The Visegrad Four (V4) has been basically dead since 2022 and the Ukraine War. The bloc comprised of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia represented a semi-dissident group within the EU. It was receiving particular notice during the years when Orban ruled Hungary, and the PiS was in charge of Poland.

The war divided them as Orban advocated either neutrality or even a pro-Moscow stance and Poland despite its ongoing struggles with Ukraine, became a strong advocate for EU backing of Kyiv.

Now Orban is out and Magyar in - which is interesting given that many seem to have forgotten that he's not a Left-wing politician. He came out of Orban's Fidesz movement. Magyar has the leadership in Brussels grinning because he's allowing the sodomites to parade and has brought Budapest back into the pro-Ukraine War camp. Thus the differences with the V4 can be patched up.

However, the reconstitution of the V4 signals that he's still going to push for anti-immigration policies, and has already been the recipient of criticism on that front. It would seem that he's following in the footsteps of someone like Giorgia Meloni and he attempt at triangulation.

Many within Hungary are just glad to see the EU subsidies (€16.4 billion) returning.

Babiš of the Czech Republic and Fico of Slovakia are both considered Right-wing and Fico in particular is considered pro-Moscow by many. The only enigma here is Tusk of Poland who spent five years as president of the EU Council and is largely hated by the Polish Right. Though the PiS was forced out in 2023, they have (functionally) recaptured the presidency - with Tusk as prime minister. I would not have pegged him as someone who would support the V4 in any capacity and yet he's there - whether he's there to subvert the bloc is anyone's guess. He seems to be making everything about Orban and rejecting his influence.

What a strange moment that pro-EU outlets would (seemingly) celebrate the return of the V4 and yet I think for some of them it signals that these nations still want to operate within the orbit of European solidarity. For a time there was a real fear that nations like Hungary and Slovakia would exit the union.

At one time the V4 was championed by the United States as a kind of replacement voice for the Brexited UK. But given the way Trump has degraded US-EU relations, this is now unlikely.