In the frame of the Hungarian Presidency of the Visegrád Group (V4), the committees responsible for energy and artificial intelligence of the Parliaments of the Visegrád Countries met in Budapest on 27 November 2025. The host of the event was Erik Bánki, Chair of the Committee on Economics of the Hungarian National Assembly. The meeting was also attended by Gábor Riz, Chair of the Energy Subcommittee of the Committee on Economics, and Dániel Z. Kárpát, Chair of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the Committee on Economics. The two main topics of the meeting were: 1) Affordable energy – the risks and costs of the green transition, and 2) Artificial intelligence as a tool for economic development.

The meeting was attended by Igor Šimko and Ivan Štefunko, members of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the Slovak National Council, Petr Fiala, Vice-Chair of the Committee on National Economy, Agriculture and Transport of the Czech Senate, Janusz Kowalski Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Energy, Climate, and State Assets, and Dariusz Stefaniuk Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Digitalisation, Innovation and Modern Technologies of the Polish Sejm.

The Hungarian position and practice were presented in the first topic by Anikó Raisz, State Secretary for Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Energy, and on the second topic by László Palkovics, Government Commissioner for Artificial Intelligence.

In his contributions Erik Bánki drew attention to the potential of the Visegrád countries working together. He stressed that preserving affordable energy, strengthening security of supply, and the responsible and competitive use of artificial intelligence, are matters of common interest. He expressed his conviction that in the coming years, cooperation between the Visegrád countries in these areas could become a real strategic force, contributing to the economic growth of the region, the well-being of its citizens, and the competitiveness of Europe.

In his speech, Gábor Riz emphasized the importance of national self-determination, stating that, in his view, every country should use the energy mix that is most efficient from both an economic and environmental perspective. He proposed joint research of alternative uses of traditional energy sources such as coal, and the sharing of results and best practices within the V4. In his intervention Dániel Z. Kárpát pointed out the concerns of citizens and SMEs regarding the rise of artificial intelligence and their fears of being left out, emphasizing that in parallel with the increased use of artificial intelligence, adult training programmes should be launched and basic concepts for job protection should be developed.

The delegations expressed their views on the topic of artificial intelligence in a jointly adopted statement at the end of the event.

+ Joint Statement
+ Photos (Office of the Hungarian National Assembly)