BRUSSELS — Central and Eastern Europe clearly didn't get the memo about "Macron-mania."

French President Emmanuel Macron earned a rockstar's welcome at his Brussels debut, telling a packed press conference it was time to "redefine" the European Union's priorities.

But while Germany and other EU states echoed his optimism, the Visegrad Group — Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic — were of the opposite mindset. Angered by Macron's suggestion that they used Europe as a "supermarket," aides from those countries briefly contemplated calling off a meeting with the French president planned for Friday morning.

The meeting did take place and the Visegrad countries used it to make sure the "new guy" knew what they were thinking.

Their message: No more lecturing on shared values, please. And forget about strong-arming us into taking in more refugees, or turning us into second-class states as part of your "multispeed" Europe. It won't happen.

"It's not the best entrée for a new president — kicking at those with whom you want to engage in dialogue," an aide to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told POLITICO. "It's not the first time he does this, using Central and Eastern European countries during his campaign as a negative example."

The French president has criticized what he calls "illiberal" forces in Eastern Europe.

"This is not the way we speak to one another at a European Council."

Poland's European affairs minister, Konrad Szymański, echoed the Hungarian sentiment.

"Until now, the level of understanding in Paris was displeasing to us," he said. "We hope political dialogue between France and Europe will take place in an orderly fashion, without stereotypes and speeches that can be seen as offensive."

Ales Chmelar, the Czech Republic's state secretary for European affairs, struck a more positive note about the hour-long sit-down with Macron.

But he did say there had been disagreement with France on the question of Europe's Posted Workers Directive, which Paris wants to revise. "An internal market is not only free movement of goods and capital, but also of people," he said.

Even French diplomats basking in Macron's Brussels glory admitted the exchange had been "frank and direct" — as close as they get to saying "tense."

Bones of contention

If Macron and the leaders of the Visegrad Group are eyeing each other warily, it's because their agendas appear to clash.

The French president has criticized what he calls "illiberal" forces in Eastern Europe — a dig that Poland and Hungary interpret as being directed at them.

He wants Central and Eastern European countries to take in more refugees as part of a European quota system, which Polish and Hungarian leaders are totally opposed to. Macron also wants eurozone countries to press ahead with deeper integration, allowing those which are ready to move ahead with harmonization to do so. The Visegrad nations see themselves being sidelined in this process, and don't want it to happen.

Finally, Macron wants to change the Posted Workers Directive to reduce wage competition between EU countries — a shift that countries to the east see as penalizing them.

"I won't say that we will agree on everything now," a French official close to the president said after the meeting. "There have been misunderstandings on both sides, but we have to revive dialogue."

Macron, determined to win over Europe after his successful election in France, pledged to work harder to win over friends in Eastern Europe.

However, French officials said meetings between France and the Visegrad Group would not be held regularly.

Joanna Plucinska contributed reporting.