Senior lawmakers from the four Central European countries, which together form the regional Visegrad Group (V4), released their statement after holding talks in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Friday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Poland was represented by lower-house Speaker Elżbieta Witek and upper-house Speaker Tomasz Grodzki, officials said.
Also taking part were the Speaker of the Czech Republic’s Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, the head of the Czech Senate, Miloš Vystrčil, the Speaker of the Slovak parliament, Boris Kollár, and the head of the Hungarian parliament, László Kövér, according to IAR.
Condemnation of Russia, support for Ukraine
In their joint declaration, the senior parliamentarians from the V4 countries declared their “full support” for Ukraine, and denounced Russia for its invasion, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
All the participants of the Bratislava meeting were unanimous in calling for further financial, economic, humanitarian and military assistance to help Ukraine fight the Russian assault, officials said.
Poland’s Witek told reporters that "the V4 format has demonstrated that it is still needed, despite the differences of opinion among its member countries.”
She also said that “there is a full-scale war going on beyond our eastern border, which determines everything,” adding that "the V4 countries know what Russian occupation can look like and what it can lead to.”
'Ukraine must win this war'
Meanwhile, Poland's Grodzki described Ukraine's defence against the Russian assault as "a David vs. Goliath battle."
He urged "the free world" to continue supporting Ukraine, saying that “Ukraine must win this war."
"Otherwise, countries in our region won’t be able to feel safe," he added.
During the meeting in Bratislava, the V4 parliamentary leaders also discussed the overall security situation in the region, illegal migration and ways to protect the European Union’s passport-free Schengen zone, as well as potential EU-wide solutions to the energy crisis, the PAP news agency reported.
Friday was day 345 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl