Visegrad Group a major EU player - PM after V4 summit

The Visegrad Group is today a major player in the EU and has enough weight to influence European policy, the prime minister said after the group’s summit meeting in Katowice, southern Poland, on Wednesday.

Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference that the group, often known as the V4 and consisting of Poland, Hungary and the Czech and Slovak republics, had grown in importance over the 30 years it had been operating.

"Our alliance within the Visegrad Group has persevered, it has passed the test of time and is a significant force in the EU, which gives us much more leverage on many of the issues discussed at that forum," Morawiecki told a press conference summing up Poland's 12-month stint at holding the V4 presidency.

The presidency, Morawiecki said, had been focused on the fight to save lives and the economy, and to keep unemployment down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While it "had not been an easy year," he added, Poland had ultimately achieved its goals.

One of the Polish presidency's main goals had been to ensure that the EU's post-pandemic Recovery Fund is big enough and flexible enough to be adapted to differing economies.

The prime minister also said that thanks to the V4 working together, the group’s economies would receive large portions of the fund.

The V4, Morawiecki also said, supported the membership ambitions of the Western Balkan states, arguing that by letting them into the club the EU would be able to pursue a more effective security policy, especially in matters like migration.