Hungary's Magyar Acknowledges Disputes with Slovakia but Vows to Revive V4 Cooperation

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said ahead of a Visegrád Group summit that his goal is to pull Central European cooperation out of what he described as a historic low reached under his predecessor Viktor Orbán. The Visegrád Group, known as V4, is a regional alliance of four Central European nations — Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic — that coordinates on political, economic, and cultural matters. Magyar openly acknowledged ongoing disagreements with Slovakia over the treatment of the ethnic Hungarian minority living in southern Slovakia, a long-standing source of tension between the two neighboring countries. However, he stressed that shared history, geography, and common interests ultimately bind the two countries together and should form the basis for renewed cooperation. Magyar, who defeated longtime strongman Viktor Orbán in recent Hungarian elections, has signaled a broader shift in Hungarian foreign policy, including a move away from Orbán's adversarial stance toward EU institutions and regional partners. The summit represents an early test of whether Magyar can restore trust and momentum within the V4 framework, which had been weakened during the Orbán era by Hungary's isolation within the European Union over rule-of-law disputes.