Juncker holds talks with anti-immigrant Visegrad countries to avoid EU SPLIT

The European Commission president met the leaders of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – all critical of his plan for ever closer integration. Juncker posed for a rather awkward picture with the four leaders before heading off for what was described as a “working dinner”. It marked the first time he had met Bohuslav Sobotka, Viktor Orban, Beata Szydlo and Robert Fico at the commission headquarters. And the meeting was seen as a crucial effort to try to appease the quartet following months of angry rhetoric. The group discussed issues of migration, defence, the EU budget and the much criticised Schengen passport-free area. Juncker tweeted afterwards: „I hosted a working dinner with the #V4 @EU_Commission.“

„On the menu: consensus through #compromise and #cooperation. #unity #FutureOfEurope.” He had invited the group in a letter earlier this month, stressing the “paramount importance” of “a more united, stronger and more democratic Europe”, strained by disputes over immigration and other issues as well as by Brexit. Furthermore, Juncker wrote: “I believe that preserving the unity of the 27 in this process is of paramount importance.”

To read more about the meeting, click HERE 

Source: Express