Germany seeks consensus with V4 before EU Parliament elections

Several Slovak analysts agreed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to the Slovak capital was to try to overcome the problematic relations with Visegrad Group (V4) countries before the European Parliament elections.

“Merkel wanted to show that Germany could cooperate with every part of the EU despite political differences and disputes on sensitive issues. For Merkel it is important to show the unity of the EU before the European election in May,” said analyst Milan Nic.

The main focus of talks between Merkel and leaders of the V4 central European countries, namely Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, was European agenda, foreign policy issues especially regarding the Western Balkans, Russia, Ukraine, and enhancing political, economic and development cooperation.

“The main interest of Merkel is trying to find an agreement on the new financial framework for years 2021-2027,” Nic added.

For Jozef Batora, Slovak professor of political science, Germany’s relations with V4 countries have at least three dimensions.

“The first one is a democratic-political one. The second one is economic, where Germany is closely linked to V4 economies with a high level of cooperation especially in industry. The third one is energy security, which relates to the Nord Stream gas pipeline project,” said Batora.

He views the project, which bypasses Ukraine and comes directly from Russia to Germany, as the most important economic problem between V4 and Germany.

During the summit with V4 leaders, Merkel emphasized the need for legal migration and the security of borders.

“We recognize Schengen, therefore we need legal migration as well as the security of borders,” she said after the summit with the V4.

The main result of the talks was the agreement between the V4 and Germany to initiate a joint program in Morocco in the coming months in order to stem immigration to Europe.

Slovakia currently holds the rotating presidency of the V4.