Poland’s once close relationship with Hungary has “changed a lot” over Budapest’s position on Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday, adding his country was now cooperating closer with Romania and the Baltic States, according to Euractiv.
He did not say what the consequences of weakened relations with Hungary would be but the two EU members used to be strong allies in their rows with Brussels over rule of law, immigration and LGBT rights.
“Our relationship with Hungary changed a lot because of the position of Hungary towards Ukraine and Russia, that’s a fact. We had once very strong cooperation on the level of the Visegrad group, now it’s much less so,” Morawiecki said at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
The Visegrad group comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
“Instead of Hungary, we cooperate very very closely with Romania and the Baltics, this is why I said that Eastern European countries, minus Hungary, have the same opinion on what’s going on in Ukraine.”
The nationalist governments of Poland and Hungary were close allies before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but have since diverged, with Warsaw being one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters and Budapest critisising Europe’s involvement in the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Poland lsat week, thanking the country for its “historic” help, saying it should become a key partner in the vast reconstruction effort needed once Russia’s invasion ends.