Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu (fourth from the left) with Visegrad states and Baltics States couterparts at a meeting in Warsaw on Monday. Photo: Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Twitter.

Romania’s increasingly close relations with Hungary’s hardline Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, – and the latter’s invitation to Romania to join the Visegrad Group – have alarmed opposition politicians, activists and foreign policy experts in Bucharest.

The experts’ group Romania 100 Platform, led by former prime minister Dacian Ciolos, on Sunday urged the Foreign Ministry to make public any plans it had about the Visegrad Group.

This came after several members of the Social Democrat-led government called for closer cooperation with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

The Romania 100 Platform said it had no objection to cooperation with the group “on certain topics that Romania is interested in” but added: “Romania’s formal participation in the Visegrad Group meetings would raise question marks about … Romania’s European policy.”

The reactions came as Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu set off to Warsaw for a meeting of the foreign ministers of nine states – the four Visegrad states, the three Baltic states, Bulgaria and Romania. Pictures showed Melescanu and Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski greeting each other warmly.

Min. #Waszczykowski: Odpowiedzią na wyzwania bezp. w regionie jest #NATO. Następne spotkania będą poświęcone szczytowi Sojuszu w 2018 roku. pic.twitter.com/eDxQrksNCh — MSZ RP (@MSZ_RP) October 9, 2017

Melescanu also pledged last week to participate at an upcoming Visegrad group meeting in Budapest on the invitation of Hungary’s Prime Minister.

In an interview with Bihari Naplo, a Hungarian-language magazine in Romania, published on October 4, Orban said he wished to find a form of cooperation that would suit Romania inside the Visegrad Group.

“I will leave this door open,” he said. He added that “the Poles, the Czechs, the Hungarians and the Slovaks will without a doubt be successful together” but that he could add others, including, Slovenia, to this list.

“It’s up to the Romanians to decide if they want to join cooperation with the Hungarians and start joint projects and establish common objectives,” he said.

Orban added that he hoped to improve the rights of the large Hungarian minority in Romania, having established a close relationship with Romanian Social Democrat Party leader Liviu Dragnea.

The warming in ties follows a brief row with Romania over the closure of a Hungarian-language school in Transylvania, which had resulted in Hungary threatening to stop Romania from joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD.

Romania’s Foreign Minister confirmed that his country was interested in cooperating with the Visegrad states, but did not mention plans to join the group formally.

“After Hungary took over the [Visegrad Group] presidency and put on the agenda topics that Romania is interested in, such as the Balkans, we were obviously invited to participate,” he said. “Generally … we do participate every time there are topics our country is interested in,” he explained.

Romania has participated in past Visegrad Group meetings, especially on the initiative to engage countries in a European Union Eastern Partnership.

However, Romania’s stance has differed from Hungary’s, as it is one of the EU countries that supports deeper EU integration, rather than demanding more sovereignty.

In March, the Romanian President’s advisor for European Affairs, former EU Commissioner Leonard Orban, said Romania would never cooperate closely with the Visegrad four.

“It’s simple: we have different visions, especially compared with Poland and Hungary,” he said during a television talkshow.

However, the governing Social Democratic Party has advocated closer ties with the Visegrad states before.

In 2015, then Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that Romania would be making a mistake if it did not negotiate with the EU together with the neighbouring four states.

On Sunday, he stressed the same point on Facebook. By negotiating together with the Visegrad countries, “they will be able to get advantages and a special status”, he maintained.

However, foreign policy experts say the new friendly relations between Bucharest and the Visegrad States, which have clashed with Brussels over their nationalistic language and over civil liberties issues, are concerning.

Former foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu said the lack of clarity in Romania’s foreign policy was worrying, with the country’s presidency promoting a clear pro-European direction while the government had no such clear vision.

“I was astonished at how fast Bucharest jumped with joy at such a proposal [from Hungary] for Romania to join Visegrad,” Diaconescu said.

“A strong and dignified state analyzes the situation first and doesn’t jump on the first proposal. I did not understand this instantaneous availability. There is no sensible decision that the Visegrad Group is not divided on,” he added.

He noted that the Visegrad states are deeply divided on many key topics. The Czech Republic and Slovakia rallied to Brussels, for example, when the European Commission warned about threats to the rule of law in Poland and Hungary.

The Visegrad countries are also split over migration policy and over foreign policy, especially in relation to Russia. Poland is deeply suspicious of the Kremlin while Hungary is more friendly.

“Which Visegrad Group shall we join?” he said. “The Visegrad Group is seen as the bastion of illiberalism, a negative direction compared to the trend we want to be associated with – solidarity, cohesion, a united Europe,” he stressed.