Prime Minister Babiš at the Bled Strategic Forum: Central Europe, and the V4 in particular, will be key to Europe’s future
On Monday 31 August 2026, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš attended the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia, where he held discussions with the prime ministers of Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary. In his speech, he rejected, amongst other things, a proposal under which Member States would manage a smaller proportion of European funds in the EU’s next long-term budget. He also endorsed the role of the Visegrád Group countries in shaping the future of Europe and outlined steps to strengthen European competitiveness. Prime Minister Babiš also met with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša. On the sidelines of the conference, he also held talks with Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement.
The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic emphasised that our region, and in particular the Visegrád Group countries, will play an important role in shaping the future of Europe. “Central Europe, and the V4 in particular, is crucial to the future of Europe. Our cooperation is now being resumed. On 10 September, the Visegrád Four will meet with the Irish Prime Minister. We are pleased to have more partners with whom we can work together towards a better future for Europe, because Europe is not in the best of shape at the moment,” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also rejected a proposal to strengthen programmes and instruments managed centrally by the European Commission at the expense of the revenue streams administered by the Member States. “It is unacceptable to us that Member States should have fewer resources at their disposal—whilst in the current 2021–2027 period Member States manage approximately 64 per cent of the budget, the Commission is now proposing that the share should fall to less than 45 per cent in the next period. It would then be even more difficult for the countries in our region to participate in these centrally managed programmes and secure funding from them,” the Prime Minister said in his speech.
On the sidelines of the conference, Prime Minister Babiš met with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša, and also held talks with European Commissioner Marta Kos on further EU enlargement, zeroing in on the countries of the Western Balkans. He also met with Christian Lauterbach, Chief Executive of Bayer Vital.
