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V4 working to prevent EU from breaking up: Czech PM

Xinhua, October 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Visegrad Four isn't a source of problems in Europe, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Saturday, adding that quite the contrary, the group is working to prevent Europe from breaking up.

Sobotka made the remarks at the program conference of Slovak social democratic party Smer-SD.

"There's a whole range of problems in Europe. Meanwhile, the V4 is acting as constructively as possible and it's striving to help Europe in preventing it from breaking up altogether," said Sobotka.

When it comes to the future of Social Democracy in Europe, he said believed it must regain political dynamics in the first place. Meanwhile, Sobotka pointed to a growth of movements that are determined to do away with the European Union.

The Czech prime minister said there are also populist movements which draw on people's frustration and negative effects of globalisation and aim at destroying the system of political parties.

There are also movements "living on fear-mongering concerning migration," he said.

Social democrats in Europe must guarantee prosperity and security, apart from promoting freedom and liberal democracy, "which is being threatened by populists, oligarchs and xenophobes of all kinds," added Sobotka.

The Visegrad Four consists of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Endit