Hungarian Conservative

Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia has announced that his administration is not willing to implement the migration dictates included in the EU’s newly accepted migration pact. PM Viktor Orbán of Hungary and PM Donald Tusk of Poland have already voiced their objections to the pact.

‘The Visegrad Group has reached a tipping point in the face of growing geopolitical and security challenges. The external and internal dynamics of the regional alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have encountered obstacles where the need for unity clashes with competing views, aims, and pressures.’

Hungary has persistently advocated for a shift in the EU’s agricultural policy towards Ukraine. The prolonged farmer protests have influenced the stance of other member states, with France spearheading a coalition of states seeking to enforce stricter trade restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products.

According to POLITICO, Slovakia may soon find itself undergoing a rule of law procedure, possibly leading to the European Commission deciding to freeze EU funds due to the Central European state. The contrasting paths of Robert Fico and Donald Tusk serve as a clear illustration of Brussels’ ideological warfare on member states that refuse to surrender their national sovereignty.

The Hungarian price monitoring system, which will possibly be purchased by the Slovak government, is an online database developed by the government and the Hungarian Competition Authority. The system provides consumers with information on the selling prices of individual products.

‘The main criticisms against the four Slovak governments of the past three years were the lack of competence and the imposition of ad hoc solutions. The current government coalition has produced the exact opposite: it carries out the programme that its political opponents are most afraid of and does so with panache.’

While it is evident that the parties do not share the same perspective on the Ukrainian question, this difference of opinions could be overcome by concentrating on common interests in other areas. Although embarking on this path requires compromises and the harmonization of interests, with no particular policy proposal in that regard adopted at this time, the summit had symbolic significance, sending the message that the V4 alliance is still relevant.

The V4 countries convened for a summit on 27 February, a gathering of paramount importance regarding the future trajectory of cooperation. The leaders of the allied states reached a unanimous agreement on the necessity to uphold cooperation in areas of common interests, notwithstanding differences of opinion.

The 2023 elections in Slovakia were looked upon with great anticipation by both the conservative and liberal sides. The stakes were high: whether the Central European country would remain on a progressive road or take a national turn.

In his regular Friday morning interview, the Prime Minister stated that there was ‘no money in the world’ that would get Hungary to allow migrants into Hungary and ‘take the country away from us.’

During their meeting in Budapest on Tuesday, the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia agreed on the need to rework a European Union plan to provide financial assistance to Ukraine.

The new Polish government is quite likely to not be able to deliver on many of its crucial election promises, which may create legitimacy problems. And this is far from being the only difficulty: if the new government is unable to change the laws that led the EU to launch the Article 7 and the so-called rule of law proceedings against Poland, there may be serious economic consequences for the country.

‘The fact is, however, that the continent’s current economic situation finds only a relatively small number of EU countries in a giving mood. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the European Commission’s current proposal was not ‘realistic’ and that the Brussels-based body was asking too much. Similar comments have come from Berlin.’

The Mathias Corvinus Collegium, in collaboration with the Migration Research Institute and the Wacław Felczak Institute of Polish-Hungarian Cooperation, held a conference in Budapest, in which renowned experts discussed one of Europe’s most pressing issues of the time: migration.

Regardless of the eventual shape of Slovakia’s official foreign policy, the potential dominance of pro-Kremlin figures in the new government should not be overlooked in NATO’s eastern flank. It is a development that warrants the West’s vigilance and concern.

Fulfilling the predictions of the recent polls, the SMER party has won the early elections in Slovakia. Robert Fico will likely be elected prime minister for the fourth time in the history of the Central European country.

On the surface, the Slovak election seems to be about a single question: will Robert Fico, the country’s former prime minister, be able to return to power? However, even if he does triumph, he will be forced to enter difficult negotiations with multiple potential coalition partners.

The opposition is growing at the political level and demanding early elections. According to Matovič, the coalition may fall in the Autumn. Sulík considers this differently: there is no reason for the government’s fall but the replacement of the Minister of Finance.