A meeting of the defense ministers of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia that was planned for Wednesday and Thursday has been canceled due to Hungary’s policy on Ukraine as Moscow’s war on its neighbor continues in its second month, reports news agency MIA.
The Hungarian Defense Ministry confirmed the cancelation in a statement to private news channel ATV on Tuesday, saying the meeting of the Visegrad Four countries would be held at a later date. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has only half-heartedly condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine and also ruled out arms shipments directly from Hungary to Ukraine.
Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin have established a close relationship in recent years and Hungary also depends on low-priced Russian energy supplies. Budapest also torpedoed Ukraine’s rapprochement with NATO.
The other three countries in the Visegrad group have taken an increasingly critical view of Orban’s stance, as Poland in particular makes significant efforts to support Ukraine. Late last week, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak cancelled his participation at the meeting, as did his Czech colleague Jana Cernochova.
“I have always supported the Visegrad Four, but I am very sorry that for Hungarian politicians, cheap Russian oil is more important than the blood of Ukrainians,” Cernochova tweeted.
The Visegrad Four group was established before the countries joined the EU, emerging as a loose association to pursue shared interests at the European level.
The group gained prominence during the 2015 refugee crisis, when it united in its opposition to binding, EU-wide quotas for the admission of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.
