Orbán Still Eying Regional Cleavages

The EU is set to freeze funds for Hungary, and V4 leaders are still interested in regional cooperation despite Fidesz-led Hungary causing discomfort at the V4 meeting in Slovakia.

This week on Visegrad Insight:

• Brussels foresight event. Visegrad Insight and Robert Schuman Foundation organise a debate: How does this War End for Europe?
• Marcin Król Fellow Marco Németh compares where human rights stand in Slovakian and Czech societies.
• Alina Inayeh, Adviser to GMF President on Black Sea Security, offers strategic policy suggestions that Romania should prioritise for their upcoming Three Seas Initiative presidency.
• The December Monthly Foresight will come out on Thursday,
• Benedek Kovacs analyses the connection between the rising National Conservatives in the US with Orbán’s regime in Hungary.

EU/REGIONAL

• Hungary denied. The EU is set to withhold up to 13 billion euros in EU funding transfers to Hungary at a time when the country is facing increasing economic pressures.
• Russia is a terrorist state. European Parliament passed a resolution calling the Russian federation a terrorist state and committing atrocities in Ukraine.
• V4 meeting in Slovakia. Prime Ministers of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia gathered at the second-largest Slovak city of Kosice not far from the Ukrainian border to discuss the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and migration.
• The European Parliament voted on the modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The EU is a signatory of the ECT which protects investments of energy companies including Gazprom or Lukoil. A number of signatory countries have recently left it including France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovenia citing ECT’s incompatibility with the EU’s climate goals.
• The struggle to quell violence against women was commemorated on 25 November. The Istanbul Treaty has not been ratified in several Central European countries where the ratification is frequently exploited by populist and nationalist politicians.
• Grain for Ukraine Summit. Ursula Von Der Leyen said, “Russia is again using food as a weapon” referring to the Holodomor memorial day marking 90 years since the Soviet Union orchestrated the starvation of Ukraine.
• Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 28 November. The agenda includes a follow-up on the EU-African Union and crisis response to Ukraine and Afghanistan developments.
• European Parliament came under a pro-Kremlin group’s cyber-attack following the adoption of a resolution recognising Russia as a state supporting terrorism.
• “Make Amazon Pay” strikes. In Europe, the largest strikes are taking place in 18 warehouses in France and Germany.
• EU gas price ceiling level is proposed at €275 per MWh or about $3,000 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Ukraine is poised to withstand the assault on its energy infrastructure

UKRAINE