Slovak and Hungarian Leaders to Meet in Brussels as Visegrád Group Reunites

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is set to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar in Brussels, where the two leaders will hold bilateral talks alongside a broader gathering of the Visegrád Four (V4) group. The full V4 summit will mark the first in-person meeting of all four member states' leaders in several years. The Visegrád Four is a regional alliance comprising Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Poland, formed to coordinate political, economic, and cultural cooperation among Central European nations. The group, which once held significant collective influence within the European Union, has met less frequently in recent years amid political divergences between member states. The meeting carries notable significance given the changed political landscape in Hungary. Péter Magyar, a reform-oriented opposition figure who swept to power challenging the long-dominant right-wing populist government of Viktor Orbán, now leads Hungary as prime minister. His government represents a sharp ideological departure from the Orbán era, during which Fico and Orbán had maintained close political ties. How the two leaders navigate their relationship — Fico leads Smer-SD, a left-leaning nationalist party currently in government in Slovakia — will be closely watched as it could reshape the V4's internal dynamics and its collective posture within the EU.