V4 sign joint memorandum on migration, security, Ukraine at EU summit

The prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries have signed a joint memorandum declaring their countries’ positions on migration, European Union security, the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine and the common digital market.

In the memorandum signed on Thursday ahead of the EU leaders summit in Brussels, the premiers of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia acknowledged that EU member states were closer to reaching a consensus on the need to protect the bloc’s external borders from migrant inflows, but said there was more work to be done to coordinate national migration policies.

As regards security, the V4 leaders called on other member states to concentrate their efforts on countering terrorist attacks and cybercrime. They also underlined the importance of passing the EU’s Passenger Name Record (PNR) directive, which would create a joint system for police and justice officials to access the data of all airline passengers travelling to, from and within the EU. The memorandum also emphasises the need for close cooperation between the EU and NATO.