V4 Report

16 hours ago

* Austria 🇦🇹: Austrian leaders have signed economic agreements worth €1.5 billion during a state visit to China. The delegation also included a 7-year-old musician and a violin used by the young Mozart.

Austria, which will hold the rotating EU presidency in the second half of this year, intends to focus on EU-Asian ties during that period. China is Austria's second largest non-European trade partner after the United States.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative opens up opportunities for Austria and China to boost cooperation, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Xinhua ahead of his visit to China.

"I see transport, energy and telecommunications, sustainable technologies, rural development, financial services and e-commerce as attractive areas with special expertise" for bilateral cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Kurz said.

Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the initiative aims to achieve policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes, thus building a new platform for international cooperation to create new drivers of growth.

** The visit also features a cultural note reflecting Austria's rich history as a musical nation: At a state banquet in Beijing, the 7-year-old Austrian musician Anna Cäcilia Pföss will perform on the violin used by the famous 18th-century Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a child.

There is no doubt that the nation states of Central Europe, most notably the countries that comprise the Three Seas Initiative, are trying to create economic ties with China. The CEE region will have to look for opportunities outside of the EU bloc to continue to grow.

It is not without risk and their leaders must make sure to negotiate in the best interests of their countries, but we do not think these opportunities can be ignored. ... See MoreSee Less

Austria sends high-ranking delegation to China with a musical touch | DW | 08.04.2018

dw.com

Austrian leaders have signed economic agreements worth €1.5 billion during a state visit to China. The delegation also included a 7-year-old musician and a violin used by the young Mozart.

V4 Report

19 hours ago

* Hungary 🇭🇺 and Poland 🇵🇱: Hungary hopes that the European Union’s “political hunt” for Poland will soon come to an end and the European Commission will finally respect member states’ laws based on national traditions and sovereignty, the state secretary for EU affairs said on Tuesday.

Based on the recent behavior and rhetoric of the EU Parliament, we believe the intimidation and threats will only increase from Brussels. The EU’s aim is to break Visegrad and all opposition to the multicult manifesto of Brussels.

Unless there is a complete overhaul of the EU Parliament, including the EU Ministers, the Union will break. One cannot have radical Dutch and Belgium politicians making irrational judgements against Poland and Hungary. This is not their scope, nor are they qualified to determine the values of Visegrad.

The problem in Europe is not Hungary or Poland but the odd, bitter and vindictive Eurocrats of Brussels.

Read more at: dailynewshungary.com/government-official-hungary-hopeful-ec-will-end-political-hunt-for-poland/ ... See MoreSee Less

Government official: Hungary hopeful EC will end 'political hunt' for Poland - Daily News Hungary

dailynewshungary.com

Hungary hopes that the European Union's "political hunt" for Poland will soon come to an end and the European Commission will finally respect member states' laws based on national traditions and sovereignty, the state secretary for EU affairs said on Tuesday.

V4 Report

21 hours ago

* 🇪🇺 A Federalist “Love Fest” in Brussels: Emmanuel Macron and Guy Verhofstadt to meet over future of EU, just days after the leader of the leftist ALDE Group called for a “new, dynamic, centralist Europe”.

** The V4 Report on Twitter posted the video of the little “love fest” between EU federalists Guy Verhofstadt and Emmanuel Macron. It was all rather embarrassing but quite typical of the noxious behavior conducted in the EU Parliament.

Verhofstadt’s speech, as usual, was all theatre and contained little reality or substance. Macron, for his part, stood by and acted like Angela Merkel when worshipped by the media....the same sort of fake humility was present.

However, Macron and Verhofstadt will never lead Europe. Macron is a pure creation of the media and lacks the intangibles necessary to be a natural leader. His trip to Vienna last summer to visit Christian Kern 🇦🇹, Bohuslav Sobotka 🇨🇿 and Robert Fico 🇸🇰 in an attempt to divide Visegrad by isolating Hungary and Poland was a major disaster. All three of the Socialists he charmed are now gone.

Macron cannot win the hearts and minds of Central Europeans and Berlin-Paris duo will not achieve their goal of becoming the “centre of influence” in Europe. The dynamics have changed in Europe and the centre is shifting.

Despite Verhofstadt’s dream, the Winds of Change have already emerged in Central Europe, where a mainstream rebellion has risen to defend their culture, beliefs and way of life....and there is little Macron, Merkel or Verhofstadt can do to stop it. It is here to stay. ... See MoreSee Less

Macron and Verhofstadt in NEW EUROPE PLOT: Pair to meet over future of EU

express.co.uk

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is to meet with Guy Verhofstadt just days after the Belgian MEP called for a “new, dynamic, centralist Europe”.