The summit’s Slovakian host, Prime Minister Robert Fico, warned that Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia would dig their heels in on this issue and that no compromise was possible in negotiations.
“There is no idea in it, no real reset. It is completely devoid of creativity and a desire to make things right. A useless summit,” she said.
When asked what she thought about the promise by the Visegrad Four to veto the agreement on Britain’s exit from the European Union if it limited their citizens’ right to work in the UK, Constance Le Grip said that the statement by these four EU countries was starkly at variance with the agenda of the Bratislava summit.
“This is a graphic example of things going awry there, that they have neither a leader, not a political leadership. Europe is a plane without a pilot which is bound to crash,” she added.
Speaking in Bratislava, French President Francois Hollande warned about the dangers facing the 27-nation bloc.
“We face either break-up, weakening — or we choose the opposite, together giving Europe a purpose," he insisted.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi described the summit as ”a missed opportunity” to discuss the future of the European Union, breathe new vigor into the bloc and “to work towards the goals outlined by the European leaders.”