Diplomatic war in the EU: Poland and Hungary exchange sharp accusations over the war in Ukraine

Relations between Poland and Hungary worsened after Viktor Orbán refused to cut ties with the Russian president after February 24, 2022. And now the countries have started a real diplomatic war against the background of disagreements over the war in Ukraine. The irritation in Warsaw began with Viktor Orbán’s “peacemaking” tour, which took advantage of Hungary’s presidency of the European Union. Polish government officials, in particular the Prime Minister of the country, Donald Tusk, strongly disagreed with such actions of the Hungarian Prime Minister. Other EU member states stressed that Orbán had no mandate to negotiate on their behalf, even though Hungary currently holds the EU Council presidency.

However, Orbán went further: during a speech at a gathering of Romanian Hungarians on July 27, he accused NATO countries and the European Union of hypocrisy and emphasized that Poland is one of the most hypocritical countries among the other countries of the European Union, because Polish politicians cooperate with Russia, but Hungarians are criticized for this.

Such statements of Viktor Orban caused a sharp reaction in Warsaw. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski called the Hungarian Prime Minister’s statements anti-European, anti-Ukrainian and expressed surprise that Hungary continues to be in NATO and the European Union, while its Prime Minister criticizes both unions.

This accusation was answered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Sijarto, who is one of Viktor Orbán’s closest associates.

In his Facebook he wrote: in order to preserve the Polish-Hungarian brotherhood, we endured the provocations and hypocrisy of the current Polish government for a long time, but the glass is full.

The current Polish government is judging and blaming us for importing oil from Russia, which is absolutely necessary for the country to function. If we look carefully at the list of buyers of one of the largest Russian oil companies (we are talking about Lukoil), we will definitely find Poles there as well.

The exchange of criticism and accusations took place against the background of Ukraine’s decision to limit the oil transit of the Russian company Lukoil, which put the Hungarian government in a rather difficult situation from the point of view of energy security.

Regarding blocking of oil supplies by Russian Lukoil to Ukraine, Siyarto stated that he adheres to his position, according to which “Ukraine acts against the association agreement with the EU when it threatens the security of our energy supply.”

As you know, Hungary did not take any measures to adapt to the new energy situation during the war.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radosław Sikorski, responded to the Prime Minister of Hungary. In an interview for the portal Visegrad Insight, he stated that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s selfishness led to the isolation of his country.

Sikorskyi reminded Orban of the blocking of the budget and aid to Ukraine, and criticism of the EU’s policy regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the arbitrary “peace mission” to Moscow and Beijing.

He called Putin a threat to the whole of Europe and called for an increase in the defense budget of the European Union in proportion to the GDP of each country. And he noted that Hungary’s blocking of payments from this fund for the modernization of the armed forces causes the irritation of Europeans.

The exchange of harsh statements between Poland and Hungary indicates a deep crisis in the relations between these two countries. Misunderstandings regarding Hungary’s policy regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war existed even earlier, when the Polish government was headed by the leader of the Law and Justice party, Matiusz Morawiecki. At that time, Warsaw was more cautious about conflicts with Budapest, because Poland and Hungary held close views on the European Union and wanted to show solidarity with each other.

We will remind that Viktor Orbán is known for his political strategy, which includes the desire to restore Hungary’s influence in Central Europe. His policies are often criticized for authoritarian elements and aimed at reducing the influence of the European Union in Hungary. Orbán’s speeches, especially those concerning the territories, in particular Transcarpathia, may be part of a broader influence strategy. Orbán may try to use political and economic conditions to increase Hungary’s influence. There is hope in Budapest that Donald Trump, if he wins the elections, will be able to help in the realization of Hungarian ambitions. And they are linked to his previous administration, which was known for its skeptical stance on the EU and its tendency to support countries opposed to European integration. So relations within the EU are only getting worse.

The change of government in Poland and the coming to power in Slovakia of the government of Robert Fico, close to Orbán in terms of views on European integration, relieved Warsaw of the need to hold on to the support of Budapest. Budapest also does not need the support of Warsaw, and now Orbán can hope that in the event of any decisive action against his country in the European Union, those actions will be blocked by Robert Fico. The Polish government and the Hungarian government have almost diametrically opposed views on the values ​​of the European Union, European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The unity of the four countries of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) is actually destroyed. Poland and the Czech Republic support Ukraine and consider it necessary to speed up the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the neighboring country, realizing that Russia’s triumph in the war threatens them as well. Viktor Orbán and Robert Fizo, on the other hand, have a different view of how the war should end and who should make decisions about the future of Europe. For Orban, it is important that Ukraine remains in the gray zone and maintains special relations with the Russian Federation. The Prime Minister of Hungary emphasized that Ukraine will still not join NATO and the European Union, which means that Hungary will block Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration wherever possible.

So the interests of the four neighboring Central European countries are antagonistic. Lately, all the actors have decided that there is no need to hide the difference in views. It is profitable for Viktor Orbán to harshly criticize the Polish government and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, as well as to ostracize Warsaw’s attitude to Hungarian politics. Frankly speaking began in Poland as well. And they no longer turn a blind eye to Orban’s special relationship with Russia. At the same time, Warsaw continues to hope for a just peace in Ukraine. The situation is similar in relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, although Robert Fico is more careful in balancing the interests of the European Union and the interests of his own political power than his Hungarian leader. Therefore, the diplomatic war between Poland and Hungary is in full swing and there is no reason to believe that the parties will be able to regulate their relations with diametrically opposed approaches to the future of Europe.