Parliamentary Chairs meet in Warsaw; discuss future of EU

Slovak Parliamentary Chair Andrej Danko met his counterparts from the other Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) in Warsaw on Tuesday, thus concluding the final leg of his official three-day visit to Poland. At their meeting the V4 parliamentary chairs spoke about the importance of national parliaments, concurring that they envision the future EU as a strong international community buttressed on cooperation between national states. According to Polish Sejm [lower chamber of parliament] chair Marek Kuchciński, the V4 will strive to engage in closer cooperation between its parliaments while lending support to the better sharing of information on recent developments within the group. This view was echoed by Polish Senate chair Stanisław Karczewski, who believes that the stability of the V4 will also contribute towards the stability of the entire EU. Hungarian Parliament chair László Kövér pointed out that Hungary is scheduled to take over the year-long V4 Presidency from Poland this July, and he discussed the agenda that his country will adopt with his fellow parliamentary chairs. He added that the task of the V4 within the EU isn't only to respond to threats, such as the failure to handle the migration crisis in Europe, but also to speak about visions for the future.