Marusiak: V4 Never Top Priority for Poland (2)

Bratislava, November 3 (TASR) - The Visegrad Four (V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) group has never been the subject of heated debates in Polish politics, as the V4 is too small an actor to carry top importance for Poland, said Juraj Marusiak, director of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) Department of Political Sciences, on TASR TV on Friday. The horizons and priorities of Polish foreign policy are oriented more on an east-west axis - Russia and Ukraine to the east and Germany to the west. "When open talks on a Polish-Hungarian alliance within the V4 began in 2022, the Polish government conceded that any alliance with [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban was obsolete and that the obstacle was Hungary's stance on the conflict in Ukraine," added Marusiak. The V4 countries might be united in their position on illegal migration, but they're divided by security issues. According to Marusiak, it's likely that Poland will have a new government by early December, with Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk probably set to become the new prime minister. "As for foreign affairs policy, a consensus prevails among the leading forces on both sides [within Poland]. It means that there isn't any conflict regarding support for Ukraine or strategic goals or how both sides envision the position of Poland in the EU or NATO," said Marusiak. Marusiak pointed out that Civic Platform differs from the current governing Law and Justice party in that it puts great emphasis on developing good ties with EU partners. "Both parties, however, pursue a strategy to include Poland among the key actors of the EU, meaning at a similar level as Germany and France," he added. mf/df