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How Soulmates Hungary and Poland Reconciled in the Ukraine War | Poland

MeIn December 2021, Poland’s ultra-conservative nationalist government welcomed prominent figures from far-right European parties, including France’s Marine Le Pen and Hungary’s Viktor Orban. At the end of the Warsaw rally, the group issued a declaration against “social engineering” aimed at creating a “new European state” and promised to cooperate in the European Parliament, but little has been done. did.

Just months after the Warsaw summit, the governments of Poland and Hungary, who had been ideological soul mates for years in the EU, broke down over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Although Warsaw was one of Kyiv’s girlfriends enthusiastic supporterHungarian Prime Minister Orban called for tougher sanctions, described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an “enemy” and blamed the EU’s Russia policy for inflation and high energy prices. Despite some tentative olive branches, relations between Poland and Hungary remain strained.

The rift was most evident when Poland’s most powerful politician and chairman of the ruling Party for Law and Justice (PiS), Jaroslaw Kaczynski, explained Orban’s position in April. Ukraine “I’m so sad”, “I’m sorry”, etc. In private, the Polish diplomat expresses disappointment. “For me, this is his 1848-49 country, the country slaughtered by Russia,” a senior Polish diplomat said in May, when he said that the Austrian Empire would become the Russian emperor. You mentioned your call to suppress the Hungarian Revolution. “Frankly, I don’t understand the logic. [of Hungary’s position]’ said the diplomat, adding that the Visegrad Group (an alliance of four Central European countries: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) no longer exists.

More recently, Warsaw’s attempts to revive cooperation with Hungary seemed unsuccessful. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a pro-government weekly Last month Poland wanted to return to cooperation with the Visegrad Group (V4), effectively reopening the door to better relations with Hungary.Her EU official in Brussels took this as a sign of the Polish government’s disappointment. €35.4bn (roughly £31bn) of EU Covid Recovery Fund has so far been unlockeddespite offering a modest concession in a dispute with Brussels over the rule of law.

Wojciech Przybylski, editor of Visegrad Insight magazine, said Morawiecki wanted to test public opinion in Poland, facing elections in 2023, but was sent to Warsaw last December. He said he could not overlook the pro-Russian tendencies of some politicians, including Mr Orban. According to Przybylski, some Polish political leaders want to “innovate and collude in European politics” with Orbán, but the unpopularity of the Hungarian leader prevents them from doing so. I can’t. “They need to clearly distance themselves from Viktor Orban, whose political communication poisoned the popularity of Polish politicians,” he said.

Cooperation with Orban was blocked by the Polish ruling party. The reason for this is that “the prevailing sense of insecurity in Polish society and Russia And the recognition of Ukraine, ”he said.

a Recent YouGov Poll It exposed the gap in public perceptions of the war between the two neighboring countries. Only 32% of Hungarians support this EU policy, while 65% of Poles support maintaining sanctions against Russia. Similarly, her three-quarters of Polish citizens blame Russia for the war, while in Hungary she is only 35%.

“Russian war is a matter of security, a matter of self-awareness for Russia. PolandIt doesn’t really apply to the Hungarian government,” said Susanna Veg, an associate fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The Hungarian government still does not see Russia as a direct security threat, and there is disagreement between the two governments on this.”

Hungary has tried to repair relations with its neighbors. After the May elections, Hungary’s new president Katalin Novakmade her first trip abroad to Warsaw to strengthen the alliance.

Contrary to claims that V4 is dead, Slovakia last week invited the presidents of four countries to discuss the region’s security and energy crises. But at the closing press conference, the President of Slovakia said: Zuzana Captova Pointed out the V4’s inconsistent position on military aid to Ukraine. These contradictions surfaced again on October 17 when Hungary abstained from setting up her EU mission to train Ukrainian troops.

The Polish-Hungarian rift is just the latest sign of divergence between Central European quartets. Solidarity Against Refugee Quotas During the immigration crisis.

Despite their differences over the war in Ukraine, Poland and Hungary share common views on the rule of law and the role of EU institutions.Last month, the PiS MEP voted against to join other nationalist parties European Parliament resolution naming Hungary an ‘electoral tyranny’At the risk of being denied EU funding over concerns about corruption and a politicized judicial system, the two sides may rediscover interest in working together.

The “ideological proximity” of the ruling parties in Poland and Hungary could give them a common agenda “as they continue their so-called war with Brussels,” Weg said. But she added: “The conflict over Russia really limits it. At the moment, I don’t think it can be easily reconciled and overcome.”

How Soulmates Hungary and Poland Reconciled in the Ukraine War | Poland

Source link How Soulmates Hungary and Poland Reconciled in the Ukraine War | Poland

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