The Visegrad Group, besides known as V4, is simply a format of regional political, economical and cultural cooperation between 4 countries of Central Europe: Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It was established in 1991 as a common platform for the activities of these countries in the process of exiting communism and preparing for integration with the European Union and NATO. Cooperation was intended to coordinate reforms, joint diplomatic procedures and strengthen the region's global position.
The group's name comes from the town of Visehrad in Hungary, where the founding declaration was signed. Although V4 has no permanent structures or legal personality, it acts as a forum for consultation and coordination of positions on key European and regional issues. The countries are chairing the group rotationally – each year another country acts as coordinator and organizer of meetings. The main areas of cooperation are security, energy, infrastructure, migration, education and culture. There is besides the Visegrad global Fund that supports social, technological and cultural projects in the region.
Over the years, the Visegrad Group has functioned as a coherent bloc that could act together towards Brussels and another global partners. However, fresh years have shown that political cohesion between V4 countries may be fragile, and world-view differences and the approach to abroad policy – especially with respect to the war in Ukraine – have begun to undermine the power of joint action.
Despite these tensions, Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, inactive sees the Visegrad Group as a possibly influential tool of regional policy. His fresh statements show that this format can play a key function in the forthcoming disputes over the form of the European Union budget in Budapest's assessment.
Orbán expects that in the coming years all 4 V4 countries will be governed by sovereign groups – i.e. those which argue the deepening of European integration, are skeptical of the EU's migration policy and advocate the strong position of national states. In his view, this could mean the revival of the Visegrad Group as a compact political bloc capable of acting jointly against the dominant political line in Brussels.
At the heart of this dispute is the draft fresh budget of the European Union, which assumes additional backing for Ukraine under the alleged “Ukraine Facility” – a peculiar fund to support the reconstruction of this country and its integration with the West. Orbán criticises this plan as unjust and unthinking. In his opinion, the European institutions focus on Ukraine's interests at the expense of the associate States.
As he stated:
"This is not a budget for Europeans. It's a budget for Ukraine. And this is poorly written, due to the fact that without a clear plan or work for the consequences.”
Orbán rejects the argument that solidarity with Ukraine requires specified a level of financial commitment. He stresses that the Union should not make the future of its citizens dependent on an armed conflict which, in his opinion, "is not clear and is not in the strategical interest of Europe as a whole".
However, his position is not limited to criticism of the content of the budget. Orbán calls for a complete withdrawal of the European Commission's current proposal and the preparation of a fresh plan based, as he claims, on the real needs of the associate States. It announces that Hungary will not support any version of the budget until its conditions are met.
In 1 of his speeches, he announced:
"We will not accept any budget that does not reconstruct moral balance in the European Union. As long as Hungary is treated unfairly, there will be no agreement."
This mention to the fact that EU recovery fund funds (more than EUR 12 billion) have been frozen due to allegations of violation of the regulation of law by the Hungarian Government. Orbán considers this to be a political revenge on the part of Brussels and demands full unblocking of funds as a condition for further dialogue.
The key component of Budapest's strategy is based on a possible alliance with the another V4 countries. According to his predictions, by the end of 2026, groups with a akin approach to European policy – conservative, national, Eurosceptic – will regulation in all 4 Visegrad Group countries. Then, as Orbán says, the Group will regain cohesion and the ability to have a real impact on decisions taken in the European Union.
"When 4 countries of the Visegrad Group have sovereign governments, we will return to the stage. And not only will we return – we will block this budget.”
Such a declaration sends a clear signal that Budapest intends to usage European mechanisms, including the rule of unanimity in budgetary matters, to push its own interests and to defend the values it sees as being threatened by the policies of the central EU institutions.
However, it is hard not to announcement that attempts to resuscitate the Visegrad Group as a political bloc are faced with serious obstacles. The position of individual governments differs not only in the approach to Russia and the war in Ukraine, but besides in the way in which relations with Brussels are perceived. The Czech Republic and Slovakia, despite any elements in common with Orbán's policy, are not clearly hostile to the EU institutions. Poland, after the change of government in 2023, turned towards close cooperation with the European Commission.
For this reason, Orbán's imagination may prove politically unrealistic – at least in the close future. However, his strategy based on political numbers and electoral calendar shows that Budapest sees the future of the Visegrad Group not only as a platform for regional cooperation, but besides as a possible counterweight to the EU's dominant political line.
The Visegrad Group, even if divided and weakened, remains 1 of the fewer regional formats in Europe that can play a function in shaping continental policy, especially erstwhile members' interests converge. For Orbán, it is inactive a tool for fighting for a imagination of Europe as a community of nations, not a centralised national project.
It is simply a conflict vision, but consistent. And although the road to its implementation can be long and winding, it is impossible to ignore it – due to the fact that even divided Visegrad can challenge the biggest EU plans.
