Criticism from the ultra-conservative Polish government of the Hungarian Prime Minister, the nationalist Viktor Orban, is rarely heard. However, since Russia invaded Ukraine, nothing has gone right between the two central European countries that are members of the European Union (EU). Normally allies in their virulent attacks on Brussels, they are openly showing divisions over Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In late March, Polish President Andrzej Duda said he understood Hungary’s “huge dependence” on Russia for energy, but that “with Russian aggression in Ukraine and the deaths of thousands of civilians [il avait] difficult to accept the position of the Hungarian Prime Minister”. “This policy will cost him dearly,” he said.
While Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denounces the “totalitarian state” set up by the Russian President, Mr Orban, who has maintained cordial relations with the Kremlin in recent years, is trying to strike a careful balance. If the Hungarian supports the joint decisions at European level and within NATO, he categorically refuses to supply arms to Ukraine or even allow them to pass through its territory.
On October 23, Mr Orban even accused Brussels of weakening Hungary with its sanctions against Russia while facing a protest movement of teachers and students at home. “Let’s not worry about those shooting at Hungary somewhere in the shadows from the watchtowers of Brussels,” he said. “They will land where their predecessors landed,” he added, predicting a similar fate for the EU as the Eastern bloc that collapsed between 1989 and 1991.
Additionally, in mid-October, the Hungarian government launched a “national consultation” on European sanctions against Moscow, which Mr Orban continues to castigate, even though he voted for it along with his partners.