Polish-Hungarian friendship and brotherhood through history
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, Polish-Hungarian diplomatic relations have reached an all-time low. These two nations who used to have extensive, one could say special relations with each other for centuries are now further apart than they’ve ever been. Instead of talking about why this has happened, let’s instead take a look at the numerous events in history which helped forge this strong bond between the two countries.
Dynastic ties
The oldest ties between Poland and Hungary go all the way back to the creation of both states. They both came to be independent Christian kingdoms at around 1,000 AD. Beset on the West by the stronger and more influential Holy Roman Empire, and on the East by the richer Kievan Rus, the two countries established good relations with each other from the start.
The Polish Piast and the Hungarian Árpád dynastic families have been connected since the very beginning. Béla I of Hungary had a Polish Piast wife, whom he wed during his exile from the country. Following the extinction of both original ruling houses, Louis I united the two kingdoms in a personal union between 1370 and 1382. After a brief time period, the two thrones were united once again by Wladyslaw of Jagiello from 1440 until his death at the Battle of Várna in 1444.
The last common ruler of both states was a Hungarian nobleman, Stephan Báthory, who was duke of Transylvania before the Szlachta (Polish nobility) elected him to lead the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He presided over both states between 1576 and 1586. He was buried at the Wawel Castle in Kraków and is considered an influential leader throughout the history of both countries.
Fight for independence
From the 15th century, both Poland and Hungary had started facing common threats from neighbouring powers. One was the army of the Ottoman Turks who entered into constant wars against the two kingdoms. Possibly the most decisive moment of cooperation came in 1683 during the Second Siege of Vienna.
Turkish forces were poised to take the Austrian capital when the Polish army arrived at the nick of time. They swept away the Ottoman army with one of the largest cavalry charges ever recorded in history. In the following years, the Polish troops together with the Holy League helped liberate the whole Hungary from Ottoman occupation
Later in the 18th-19th centuries, both Poland and Hungary suffered under the yoke of foreign powers. Rákóczi II, leader of the Rákóczi Uprising (1703-1711) published his famous declaration from the Polish city of Brzeżany (nowadays Berezhany in Ukraine) before returning home to lead the anti-Habsburg movement.
Throughout the 19th century, nationals of both countries helped in each other’s independence movements. Hungarian soldiers fought with and helped Polish insurgents in the November Uprising of 1830. And in 1848-49, during the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence, thousands of Polish volunteers joined the Hungarian army fighting against the Habsburg monarchy. Polish general Józef Bem, for example, became an esteemed military commander and national hero in both states.
20th century
After the end of WW1 and the foundation of the modern Polish state, the Hungarian government tried to send aid to their Polish counterparts in their war against Soviet Russia. This was denied by the Czechoslovak and Romanian states. However, hundreds of Hungarian volunteers still joined the Polish army to help fight for the country’s independence.
In the wake of Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, Hitler asked Hungary to enable his troops to move within the border of the country. Prime Minister Count Pál Teleki refused to allow this. Following the collapse of the Polish state after the dual invasions, Hungary gave permission to tens of thousands of Polish refugees and soldiers to cross through the borders and rejoin the war against Germany someplace else. At the end of the war in 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising Hungarian troops actively helped out Polish insurgents and the citizens of the city in their fight against the Nazi occupiers.
Not many people know, but the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 originally started as a solidarity protest. Participants were showing their support to those Polish people who started demanding a regime change and the removal of Stalinist leader Bolesław Bierut from power. Subsequently, the newly appointed Władysław Gomułka supported Imre Nagy’s government against the Soviets.
Modern-day
The last important milestone in the history of relations between the two nations was the creation of the Visegrád Group political alliance in 1991, after the fall of communism and the Iron Curtain. They both promised to uphold strong cooperation and work together towards NATO and EU ascension which they both reached by 2004. Since then, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hungary’s increasingly pro-Russian stance in the conflict, ties have been strong. Nowadays we can see that these millennium-old brotherly ties are going awry. This is why we found it important to recall the common historical heritage the two states have and hope that soon enough things will change for the better between them.
Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki – Lengyel-magyar két jó barát
(Poles-Hungarians like good old friends)
Waclaw Felczak Institute director awarded high state honour
Maciej Szymanowski, director of the Waclaw Felczak Institute of Polish-Hungarian Cooperation, was on Monday awarded the Hungarian Order of Merit, Knight’s Cross in recognition of his efforts in promoting bilateral cultural and social ties, the Hungarian embassy in Warsaw said.
The honour was presented to Szymanowski by Orsolya Zsuzsanna Kovács, Hungary’s ambassador to Poland. In her laudation, Kovacs praised Szymanowski’s loyalty to Hungary “in these difficult times” as well as his merits in deepening Hungarian-Polish cultural and social relations.
In his acceptance speech, Szymanowski said he considered the award a recognition of the entire staff of the Waclaw Felczak Institute.
He also said he believed that “there have never been so many people working so hard” to tarnish Hungarian-Polish relations “at least a little bit”. He said the ties of the two countries, members of NATO and the European Union, made them “an island of peace, calm and rapid development, unlike western Europe, which we have overtaken by some margin in development in recent years”.
As we wrote a few days ago, the new chief of staff’s remarks provoked a huge scandal with Hungary’s oldest friend, details HERE.
Border control will be re-established at these Hungarian border crossings
Border control will be reintroduced at several Hungarian border crossings for the duration of a fortnight.
According to mfor.hu, Slovakia will reintroduce border control due to security reasons. Between 24 May and 8 June, the measure will affect border crossings to Hungary, Austria, Poland and Czechia. Furthermore, there will be border control at Slovakia’s international airports.
The press service of the Hungarian police said that people will be able to enter Slovakia only at the designated border crossings. Slovakian authorities will do their best to curtail the crowds and minimise waiting time. All passengers from Hungary should prepare their travel documents (passport, ID card, driving licence) prior to reaching the border crossings, the police’s advice goes. Between 24 May and 8 June, you will be able to cross the Hungarian-Slovakian border at the following border crossings:
On public road:
- Rajka – Dunacsún/Cunovo (motorway),
- Rajka – Oroszvár/Rusovce,
- Vámosszabadi – Medve/Medvedov,
- Komárom – Révkomárom/Komárno (Monostori Bridge),
- Komárom – Révkomárom/Komárno,
- Esztergom – Párkány/Stúrovo,
- Letkés – Ipolyszalka/Salka,
- Parassapuszta – Ipolyság/Sahy,
- Balassagyarmat – Tótgyarmat/Slovenské Darmoty,
- Ráros – Ráróspuszta/Ráros,
- Ipolytarnóc – Kalonda/Kalonda,
- Cered – Tajti/Tachty,
- Somoskőújfalu – Sátorosbánya/Siatorská Bukovinka,
- Bánréve – Sajólénártfalva/Král,
- Aggtelek – Domica/Domica,
- Tornanádaska – Bódvavendégi/Hostovce,
- Tornyosnémeti – Migléc/Milhost (I/17 road),
- Tornyosnémeti – Migléc/Milhost (R4 road),
- Abaújvár – Kenyhec/Kechnec,
- Hollóháza – Eszkáros/Skáros,
- Sátoraljaújhely – Újhely/Slovenské Nové Mesto (Main Road, I/79),
- Sátoraljaújhely – Újhely/Slovenské Nové Mesto (Public Road),
- Pácin – Nagykövesd/Velky Kamenec.
On railway:
- Rajka – Oroszvár/ Rusovce,
- Komárom – Révkomárom/Komárno,
- Szob – Párkány/Stúrovo,
- Somoskőújfalu – Fülek/Filakovo,
- Bánréve – Sajólénártfalva/Lenartovce,
- Hidasnémeti – Hernádcsány/Cana.
Danube:
- Komárom – Révkomárom/Komárno,
- Esztergom – Párkány/Stúrovo.
Bank of America: Forint is very popular, one of the investors’ favourites
The Bank of America published its latest report on the most popular currencies of the globe’s emerging markets. Hungary’s national currency was also listed among them. According to bank, those who invest in Hungary’s forint may realise a double-digit percent profit.
Világgazdaság, a Hungarian economy news daily, analysed the latest report of the Bank of America. They said that the BofA mentioned the forint among the currently favoured currencies by investors even though the future of the Hungarian national currency is still shaky.
This week saw forint strengthening again. The currency exchange rate against the euro dropped below 370/EUR, a psychological barrier, multiple times. Considering that a couple of months ago, forint reached historic lows against the euro (and the USD) being even above 430/EUR, that is a remarkable victory.
A strategist of the BofA, David Hauner, mentioned five popular emerging market currencies: the Brazilian real, the Hungarian forint, the Indonesian rupiah, the Thai baht and the South African rand. He calculated with a 12 percent yield in USD. In some cases, that may reach 20 percent. Furthermore, the Bank of America projects a 360/EUR exchange rate by end-2024. The forint used to stand at that level in the end of 2021 and early 2022.
Hungarians do not trust forint
Based on the bank’s model, forint is exceptionally vulnerable to global crises. However, they think investors should buy forint instead of Polish zloty. They added that all emerging markets need a weak dollar to strengthen their currencies. In the past year, the USD decreased by 5 percent against the euro, which helped Poland, Romania, Hungary and other emerging European markets.
We reported on it HERE that Hungarians still do not trust the forint. They buy outstanding amount of foreign currency.
Unexpected turn in the Polish-Hungarian relationship after scandal
The Hungarian Defence Forces new Chief of Staff, Lt General Gábor Böröndi, made controversial remarks about the Western powers and Poland’s role in the outbreak of WWII. Afterwards, the Polish ambassador in Budapest called him out, President Katalin Novák tried to ease the tension, but the Poles were so outraged that the army chief needed to act promptly. Here is what Mr Böröndi did.
The new chief of staff’s remarks provoked a huge scandal with Hungary’s oldest friend
Böröndi said that WWII broke out because the Western allies and Poland did not hinder escalating the war into a world war in 1939, following the German invasion of Poland. The armed conflict started as a local war but was not stopped by a peace process, Böröndi said. Krisztián Ungváry, a well-known Hungarian historian and researcher of the era, said that Mr Böröndi was either insane or deliberately spread Russian falsifications. In Russia, there is a widespread view that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union should have turned jointly against the decadent West instead of fighting against each other during WWII.
Ungváry said that anybody who has ever opened a History book knows that Hitler wanted to acquire ‘Lebensraum’ (territory) for German settlers in Poland and the entire Soviet Union. Therefore, a war initiated by Germany was inevitable. Ungváry believes that Böröndi knows history but received an order from the government to bring some anarchy into NATO.
Böröndi’s remarks caused considerable diplomatic tension with Hungary’s oldest ally, Poland. The Polish ambassador in Budapest reacted harshly. Sebastian Keciek said he was shocked by Böröndi’s statement on Poland. “These words, which could be interpreted as accusing my country of complicity and escalation of a global conflict, are for us an unacceptable distortion of history and should not be uttered, especially by a representative of a close ally”, the ambassador added.
Böröndi had to bow to the Polish ambassador
President Novák tried to ease the tension by saying “historical debates and interpretations are better left to historians.” However, that was not enough. Keciek commented under Novák’s tweet: “Madam President, one sentence even word would be sufficient” meaning his country demands an apology. As a result, Böröndi seems to have been ordered to meet with the Polish ambassador in person to settle the debate.
As the Commander-in-chief and the President of 🇭🇺, I am well aware that the new CHOD has many things to do, such as confronting the threats of the war in 🇺🇦 and modernizing the army. Historical debates and interpretations are better left to historians.
— Katalin Novák (@KatalinNovak_HU) May 11, 2023
According to the MTI, the new Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Armed Forces and Poland’s ambassador to Hungary reaffirmed the importance of cooperation in a joint statement on Friday. Böröndi met Keciek and Polish defence attache Colonel Slawomir Mnitowski in his office for talks, the ministry said in a statement. During the discussion, the sides reaffirmed the significance of Hungary and Poland’s long-standing relations and solidarity and underlined the importance of their belonging to the same alliance as well as the related aims and cooperation. In the statement, Böröndi said boosting cooperation within NATO remained a priority and expressed his commitment to building ties with Poland.
Böröndi did not apologise
The joint statement published by the MTI does not mention it, but Böröndi did not express his apologies for his counterfactual remarks about the outbreak of WWII. He only said he did not want to question that Poland suffered the greatest loss and pain during WWII. Here is a tweet of their meeting:
. @SebastianKeciek 🇵🇱 nagykövet találkozott ma dr. Böröndi Gábor altábornaggyal, a Honvéd Vezérkar fönökével 🇭🇺. A közös nyilatkozatuk az alábbi linken található:https://t.co/AI8DHHbPU2 pic.twitter.com/RqiI6RFBTf
— Lengyel Nagykövetség / Ambasada RP w Budapeszcie (@PLinHungary) May 12, 2023
And a Facebook post:
Here is how much Wizz Air’s season ticket, the Wizz Multipass will cost!
For the time being, Wizz Air’s Wizz Multipass will be available for international routes from Poland and domestic Italian flights. Some information on the cost of the service has been leaked. Read on to find out how much you will have to pay for a Wizz Multipass!
As we reported, the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air is launching season tickets for certain flights. Now, some information on the price of these passes has been leaked, airportal.hu reports.
Wizz Air has yet to officially announce specific prices and exact rules. However, Polish users have already found the likely prices of the “airfare pass” on the website, fly4free.pl writes. The Polish site also undescores that this may change.
According to the site, there will be two types of season tickets for international routes from Poland and domestic Italian routes: either one-way or return tickets with a 6-month subscription.
The basic monthly pass will cost HUF 19,500 and 39,000 (EUR 5.22 and 105.33) for the Polish version and HUF 13,700 and 27,400 (EUR 37 and 73.99) for the Italian version.
In return, the subscriber will receive a voucher for 1 flight ticket per month (one-way or return) which can be redeemed for flights departing in 5 days at the earliest. The season tickets can be extended, for example, with priority service or checked baggage, at an extra cost.
The Multipass is a six-month commitment, according to the Polish portal. It cannot be cancelled before that, and monthly tokens cannot be carried over to the next month. This means that they are lost if not used.
V4 Festival to offer over 100 programmes
The VéNégy Festival (Visegrad Four) and Theatre Meeting will offer a mix of programmes including theater and music productions, workshops, film screenings, art exhibitions and folk dance shows in Nagymaros, in northern Hungary, on June 22-25, the organisers said on Wednesday.
The festival has become the largest such event in the Danube Bend region over the past ten years and will feature over 100 programmes on eight stages, Domonkos Márk Kiss, the festival director, told a press conference.
The line-up for concerts includes the Dutch supergroup Kraak+Smaak and soul diva Sharon Kovacs, Austria’s upcoming group Cari Cari, Slovakia’s Lash+Grey, Poland’s Ina West, Czehia’s Kill the Dandies! and Hungary’s all popular Halott Penz and the Bagossy Brothers group, he said.
On the theatre scene, the world renowned Polish company Song of the Goat will return to the VéNégy stage with performing a rock-opera version of Sophocles’ Antigone.
In a highlight event another Polish act, a spectacular multi-award winning performance by the KTO Theatre will be shown.
Polish ambassador outraged by Hungarian Chief of General Staff’s “falsification of history”
The Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Budapest was outraged by the words of the Hungarian Chief of General Staff, who drew a comparison between the current geopolitical climate and the outbreak of the Second World War. Sebastian Keciek condemned Gábor Böröndi’s statements in an open letter.
Controversial statement
Lieutenant General Gábor Böröndi, the recently appointed new Chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian Army, said on M1 television that “the Hungarian government considers peace-making important because of the danger of war escalation. In 1939, the German-Polish war started as a local war, but it was not terminated in time by a peace treaty, and this led to the Second World War.”
The statement was already greeted with puzzlement by many on Tuesday. Some accused Böröndi of outright falsifying history, writes telex.hu.
The Polish Ambassador reacted
Sebastian Keciek, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Hungary, also reacted to Böröndi’s words. The diplomat is perplexed by the Lieutenant General’s words and has written an open letter to the Hungarian Chief of General Staff, reports index.hu.
“I was shocked by your statement on Poland in an interview with M1 state television on 9 May this year, in which you described Nazi Germany’s 1939 aggression against Poland as a ‘local war’ that would not have escalated into World War II if it had been stopped in time by the peace process,” Keciek began his letter.
The ambassador added: “These words, which could be interpreted as accusing my country of complicity and escalation of a global conflict, are for us an unacceptable distortion of history and should not be uttered, especially by a representative of a close ally.”
The ambassador said the world should learn from history and take action against unlawful aggression.
Domestic criticisms
Besides Poland, Hungary does not agree with the statements. According to the national curriculum, Böröngi’s statement is not correct, since it is well known that Germany was preparing for world war from the very beginning.
“The next target of the “territorial settlement” (in fact, aggression) promoted by Germany was Poland. It became clear that Hitler was not only planning to annex German-inhabited territories to his empire but he was preparing for a war that threatened the whole of Europe,” reads the history textbook published by the National Curriculum.
Hungarian radical party proposes chemical castration of paedophiles
Opposition Mi Hazánk/Our Homeland is drafting an amendment proposal on introducing the chemical castration of paedophiles, the deputy leader of the party said on Monday.
“Recent cases that have come to light show that the punishment of such crimes is not harsh enough for deterrence,” Dávid Dócs told a press conference.
Mi Hazánk is drafting an amendment to the penal code on allowing the chemical castration of paedophiles as well as doubling the currently applicable 2 to 8 years prison term in the case of such crimes, he said. The party would even support the option of handing a life term for the perpetrators of such crimes, Dócs said.
The party’s proposal is modelled on legislation in place in the United States and Poland, he said.
Eurostat: Hungarian household energy prices are the lowest in EU
In the second half of 2022, average household electricity prices in the European Union were lowest in Hungary at EUR 10.8 per 100 kWh and the average household gas price was also lowest at EUR 3.5 per 100 kWh, Eurostat said on Wednesday.
The EU average for household electricity price in Hungary was EUR 28.4 per 100 kWh and the average gas price was EUR 11.4 per 100 kWh.
In a regional comparison, average household electricity price was EUR 16.4 per 100 kWh in Poland, EUR 18.8 per 100 kWh in Slovakia and EUR 38.4 per 100 kWh in Czechia.
Average household gas price was EUR 5.0 per 100 kWh in Slovakia, EUR 5.5 per 100 kWh in Poland and EUR 19.0 per 100 kWh in Czechia, Eurostat reported.
Attention motorists: Slovakia temporarily reintroduces border controls at the Slovak-Hungarian border
Slovakia will soon temporarily reintroduce border controls on the Czech, Polish, Hungarian and Austrian borders.
Acting Interior Minister Roman Mikulec said on Wednesday morning that Slovakia will soon temporarily reintroduce border controls on the Czech, Polish, Hungarian and Austrian borders, following a government decision, Ma7 reports.
The decision will be in force from 24 May to 8 June.
During this period, temporary controls can be expected not only at border crossings but also at all airports in the country.
The move, which had already been approved by the government, was necessary to ensure the safety and security of participants at the upcoming international security conference Globsec in Bratislava.
“Important politicians and other public figures from Europe and other parts of the world will attend the conference. Our priority is to ensure that the appropriate security arrangements are in place. This is only a temporary arrangement,” said Mr Mikulec.
Putin’s ally would give western Ukraine to Hungary
“The partition of Ukraine would be a better solution than the country’s entry into NATO, which would surely lead to a world war,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is quoted as saying by the Russian news agency TASS.
The Vice-Chairman of the Russian National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev gave a speech at an event called “Knowledge Marathon”. Among other things, he voiced the view that he believes that Ukraine‘s admission to NATO would lead to world war, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
He said that for more than a decade, Ukraine’s neighbours Poland, Hungary and Romania “have been longing to absorb Ukraine’s western region”. He says Poland’s leaders are also in talks with Kyiv to create a “confederation”, which Medvedev says is “not far from the union that once existed” between the two countries. Medvedev was probably referring to the Polish-Lithuanian union, of which the western part of present-day Ukraine was a part, Portfolio explains.
Medvedev says Ukrainians don’t want to be part of Poland because they were “treated like slaves” by Poles in the past and “today they treat Ukrainian refugees no better.”
Despite all this, Medvedev believes that the break-up of Ukraine “would still be a better outcome than a world war”, led by the country’s admission to NATO.
As is known, Russia officially claims five regions of Ukraine: it formally annexed Crimea back in 2014, as well as Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya oblasts, despite not fully controlling the latter four, Portfolio recalls. Medvedev says Russia is likely to lay claim to the entire Trans-Dnieper region of Ukraine.
Hungarian oil import in danger? Poland proposes fresh EU sanctions against Russia
Earlier this month Poland presented a proposal for a new range of sanctions against Russia. According to the new EU sanctions, shipments arriving via the Druzhba crude oil pipeline would also be affected. This could have a serious impact on Hungarian crude oil imports.
Proposal for new EU sanctions against Russia
Poland’s newly designed proposal includes a ban on pipeline oil and diamond imports, reports Reuters. In addition, they would roll out restrictions against Rosatom. The written proposal, which a diplomatic source claimed was handed over to the EU’s executive European Commission, could determine further sanction negotiations between the 27 countries. In order to impose the new sanctions, every Member State must agree. This is not the first set of sanctions the EU introduced to immobilise Russia. The bloc has already launched ten rounds of punitive measures against Russia since Moscow fully invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Hungary has regularly vetoed the sanctions, therefore, the country is expected to object to them, again.
Warsaw’s proposal would cease Russian crude oil imports to Drus
If the Polish proposal goes through, no crude oil will arrive in Drus through the Druzhba crude oil pipeline. However, this sanction could also threaten Hungary’s crude oil imports. In theory, Hungarians can use their veto power in the case of the Friendship oil pipeline and if Hungarian shipments are affected, which have been exempted for the time being until 2024.
EU: an 11th sanctions package may arrive
EU leader Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission would introduce an 11th sanctions package. It would focus on combating the circumvention of existing restrictions, particularly on the export of parts and equipment used by Russia on the battlefield against Ukraine. Although it is forbidden to transport most technological devices from Western countries to Russia, neighboring countries – such as Georgia, Kazakhstan, and even Turkey acted as mediators in the deals. Therefore, this new sanction package would try to put an end to this.
Hungary opposes the sanctions imposed on Russian nuclear energy
Another highly debated topic is Russian nuclear energy. Both Germany and Lithuania support the nuclear energy sanctions and are ready to propose this package of measures to the EU. However, existing cooperation agreements would be exempted, so Hungary and France could continue trading with Russia as long as there is no new agreement in place, writes Portfolio. So far, Hungary has opposed the sanctions imposed on Russian nuclear energy. Last week, the country issued a statement that it had agreed to amend its contract with Russia’s Rosatom regarding the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant.
Read also:
V4 European affairs committees adopt joint statement
The European affairs parliamentary committees of Visegrad Group countries meeting in Budapest on Monday “resolutely condemned” the war in Ukraine in a joint closing statement that also drew the European Union’s attention to the challenge posed by Ukrainian grain.
After the meeting, Richárd Hörcsik, the (Fidesz) head of parliament’s European affairs committee, said the statement, besides addressing the war in Ukraine, focused on issues affecting the everyday life of the V4, energy security among them.
Referring to Ukrainian grain, he said there was “a problem”, and agriculture was a “vitally important sector” in all four countries. The current situation should not be allowed to have a severely adverse effect on their farmers, he added.
“Our future is at stake,” Hörcsik said, adding that a meeting of the presidents of the EU Affairs Committees of the European Union Parliaments (COSAC) in Sweden in May would present an opportunity to further address the issue.
Meanwhile, he said that whereas Visegrad Four countries pursued different policies in many respects, “we still look to what unites us”. Some issues can best be resolved in the EU space more easily together than individually, he said.
The closing statement expressed support for the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and for preserving the country’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
The committees called for an immediate halt to intentional attacks against vital infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine. They highlighted a UN General Assembly resolution citing the organisation’s founding document which they said would serve as a basis of “comprehensive, fair and permanent peace” in Ukraine.
Also, they called for creating a mechanism in line with international law for calling Russia fully to account for its actions.
The participants of the meeting expressed appreciation for the EU to offer candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina and the start of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia after several years of delay. At the same time, they called for preparations of the candidacy of Georgia to be speeded up, adding that they expect the EU’s enlargement policy to get new impetus during the next presidency.
They expressed support for strengthening the external borders of the EU in order to boost effective action against illegal migration and human smuggling.
Czech expert: V4 cooperation dying because of Orbán
Josef Mlejnek, a Czech politologist, said that the V4 cooperation is in a state of clinical death. And that is because of Viktor Orbán.
According to index.hu, Mr Mlejnek talked about the issue to FORUM 24, a Czech media outlet. He said Orbán’s Russia policy baulks the cooperation between Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia. Therefore, they have to wait for the change of the government in Hungary, which would take a long time, he added. He highlighted that Hungary was a very problematic member of the cooperation because the other three states supported Ukraine. But Hungary is not alone.
Speaker: Hungary, Malta ‘on the side of peace’
Hungary and Malta “are on the side of peace”, according to a parliamentary press office statement released on Thursday after Speaker of Parliament Laszlo Kover received Maltese counterpart Angelo Farrugia in Budapest. The speakers discussed strengthening political, economic and tourism ties as well as broadening of parliamentary cooperation, the statement said. Malta is an important EU partner of Hungary both bilaterally and multilaterally, the speakers agreed, adding that joint action in international forums bolstered their advocacy capacities, MTI wrote.
They added that the war in Ukraine should be brought to an end as quickly as possible with a ceasefire and a peace treaty, and the EU should offer effective support while creating safeguards for its own security, the statement added.
Read also:
Ukrainian grain floods the markets: Hungary and CEE countries enraged
The leaders of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria have turned to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, asking her to take immediate steps to “handle the untenable situation caused by growing imports of Ukrainian grain into Europe”, Agriculture Minister István Nagy said on Saturday.
The letter signed by the Bulgarian president and the prime ministers of the other four countries noted that the markets of neighbouring countries have been swamped by unprecedented amounts of grain and nuts from Ukraine. Due to “failed Brussels sanctions”, farmers in those states have already been hit hard by growing energy prices and input costs, the letter noted.
Large quantities of poultry, eggs and honey are also being imported from Ukraine, which are exempt from customs on all agricultural products, depressing prices below Hungarian producers’ production costs, Nagy added. The signatories proposed that the EU funding be raised for struggling regions and new resources added to bolster the costs the Common Agricultural Policy cannot fund, he added.
Here is the minister’s post in the issue:
The EC should also consider buying the grain produced in regions near the Ukrainian border to help farmers struggling to sell their products, he said. Long-term, signatories proposed re-introducing customs on Ukrainian agricultural products should the situation prove to be impossible to handle otherwise, he said. “The EU should avoid harming itself and its farmers more than it helps Ukraine, similarly to what happened regarding the sanctions against Russia,” he said, calling on the EC to avoid “making the farmers of border countries pay for solidarity with Ukraine.”
Eternal friendship: Hungary and Poland go against the EU together
Hungary and Poland have voted against a “dangerous” proposal of the European Commission to extend earlier legislation cutting the use of natural gas by 15 percent, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday in Brussels.
Szijjártó told a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting of the EU’s energy council that the EC’s proposal would cut gas consumption rather than drawing in further resources or developing infrastructure, the ministry said.
The original regulation was adopted last year despite Hungarian and Polish objection, he said. While that legislation pertained to a winter period when growing household demand made it easier to comply, this proposal is “more dangerous” as it threatens industrial consumption more, he said.
“Artificially curbing industrial consumption raises the risk of economic regression,” he said.
Szijjártó said the regulation amounted to a “stealthy curbing of member states’ competencies” as member states have the right to decide over energy use, the national energy mix and the country’s economic structure themselves. “By deciding to curb the use of natural gas, they basically harm sovereign member states’ rights,” he added.
Hungary has now joined a lawsuit brought by Poland after the fist regulation, contesting the decision to adopt the regulation without a unanimous vote.
The regulation may curb demand on the market, he added, which would drive up prices. “The proposal threatens to bring growing prices and supply security issues, leading to recession,” he said.
Hungary voted against the proposal and maintains that gas supply is not a political issue, “and discriminating against gas resources on political grounds is extremely harmful.” The aim should be to bring as much natural gas into Europe as possible, from the most diverse resources possible, he said.
Many experts have warned of the possibility of a gas shortage this winter, he said. Some 60 billion cubic meters of Russian gas will be missing from the European system, and growing Chinese demand might syphon away further resources as the country’s economy reopens, he warned. Meanwhile, Europe is still missing the LNG capacity necessary to replace the missing resources, he said.
At the same time, natural gas costs seven times more in Europe than in the US, and electricity is three times dearer here than in China, he noted. “The only reasonable step in this situation would be to increase gas supply in Europe,” he said.
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End of historic friendship? Polish people no longer like Hungarians
A Polish pollster asked the citizens how likeable they find Hungarians, but results are deeply disappointing.
According to index.hu, Hungarians never were so unsympathetic as they are now, CBOS, a Polish pollster in the market since 1982, found in their latest survey. Only the Russians fell harder than the Hungarians. The sample is representative, containing 982 people.
Polish people were affected by the Russian attack on Ukraine. In the case of the Americans, the positive attitude of the citizens reached historic heights. Meanwhile, their attitude towards the Russians is at a historic low. But it seems the Russians dragged Hungarians considering trends.
68 percent of the Polish people sympathised with Americans, followed by the Italians and British. On the other end of the list are the Russians scoring only 6 percent on the positive end, and 82 percent on the negative end. Arabs and Romas are just a bit more sympathetic to the Polish.
Only 36 percent think that Hungarians are sympathetic, 29 percent are neutral, and 27 percent developed a negative attitude towards us. In 2022, we were in third place with a 57 percent positive attitude. Meanwhile, only 9 percent of the Polish citizens found Hungarians unsympathetic. In the last 30 years, these are the worst data considering Hungarians, CBOS said.
