PHOTOS: Polish and Hungarian presidents celebrated the Day of Hungarian-Polish friendship in Kaposvár

Hungarian-Polish friendship is part of Hungarians’ sense of identity, and “a value we have a duty to preserve, nurture and develop”, President Tamás Sulyok said in Kaposvár, in southern Hungary, on Friday.

Hungarian-Polish friendship celebrated

“We will be counting on our Polish friends in the future, too, and they can also count on us,” Sulyok told a joint press conference held with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on the occasion of the Day of Polish-Hungarian Friendship.

Sulyok said that at their talks, he and Duda had reviewed the achievements of Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2024, and that Duda had briefed him on the current Polish presidency’s accomplishments so far.

“We are hopeful that the war that has been ongoing in our neighbouring country for three years can soon come to an end,” Sulyok said.

Duda called for a “fair and lasting” peace, an agreement to guarantee security in central Europe. He said peace in the long run was crucial for Poland, as that could “ensure the existence of a sovereign, independent and truly democratic Ukrainian state”.

Addressing a gala event in the local Csiky Gergely Theatre in the evening, the president said that “Hungarian-Polish friendship for us is not a myth, but a reality.”

Thousand-year old friendship

“This friendship prevailed not only during certain periods of history, but has interwoven our life; … and it is a standing and present fact,” said Sulyok, adding that “this friendship does not depend on cooperation or non-cooperation at a given time , it is a lot deeper than that which is why it cannot be destroyed either by political intrigue of creating antagonism”.

“Nothing can tear apart, break or cast a shadow over the thousand-year old friendship chosen freely by the two nations,” the president said.

“It is the Poles who filled and still fill today the vacuum that we have always felt around us; their existence means for us that we are not alone, that we have someone to count on and that we do not have to guard freedom on our own, because we have found worthy and loyal people in the Poles,” he added.

Commending his Polish counterpart, Sulyok said Andrzej Duda had further strengthened Hungarian-Polish relations by creating a flourishing period.

In his address, the Polish president underlined the importance of regional and Transatlantic ties in maintaining stability in Poland, in Hungary as well as in central Europe.

“History has taught us Poles and Hungarians how important solidarity is,” Duda said, adding that “today, as friends and allies, we must share solidarity and pay respect to one another,” adding that the mutual sympathy of the two nations was also rooted in strong cultural ties.

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