Orbán convenes Defence Council tonight due to bombing of Poland and Friendship pipeline
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has convened the Defence Council to his office by 8 PM because of the stoppage of crude deliveries on the Druzhba pipeline and the missile hit on Poland, the prime minister’s press chief Bertalan Havasi told MTI.
Before the meeting, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky consulted with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg over the phone, he said.
Speaking after the council’s meeting, Havasi said the session had been attended by Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, Antal Rogán, the head of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér and state secretaries Gábor Bordás, József Kovács and János Nagy.
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Radical politician talks about a Hungarian-Polish border, Ukraine reacts swiftly
László Toroczkai, chairman of the radical Mi Hazánk/Our Homeland Movement, made a very brave and controversial post on Twitter on the occasion of Polish Independence Day. Naturally, the post did not go without a reaction.
“Today is Polish Independence Day. God bless Poland! Let’s meet again at the common Polish-Hungarian border!” wrote László Toroczkai, President of the Mi Hazánk/Our Homeland Movement, on Twitter on 11 November, which marked the Polish Independence Day.
🇵🇱🇭🇺 Today is Polish Independence Day. God bless Poland! Let’s meet again at the common Polish-Hungarian border! pic.twitter.com/grnrJFC6oF
— Toroczkai László (@ToroczkaiLaszlo) November 11, 2022
He attached a photo from 1939 to the post, Telex remarks. In 1939, the Polish regiment and Colonel Lajos Béldy met at the Vereckei Pass, on the historic Polish-Hungarian border.
Following Toroczkai’s post, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the Hungarian government to condemn the statement of MEP László Toroczkai on the revision of state borders as unacceptable, 444.hu reports.
“The call by Hungarian MP László Toroczkai for the revision of state borders is unacceptable. We call on the Hungarian government to condemn such irresponsible statements that undermine bilateral relations and do not correspond to the spirit of good neighborliness,” ukrinform.net translated Olag Nikolenko’s words from Ukrainian to English.
Read alsoMinister shared how Hungary will support Ukraine
Orbán greeted Poland in a letter sent to his Polish counterpart
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán greeted his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, and the Polish people in a letter on Poland’s national holiday on Friday, the PM’s press chief said.
“November 11th is a special day, a symbol of the realisation of a dream: a free and sovereign country. We Hungarians pay our respects to the self-sacrifice of Polish patriots fighting for their country, and see the restoration of Polish independence as an instance of historic justice,” the letter said.
The “brotherhood” of the two nations, based on shared historic experiences, is “exemplary”, Orbán said. “The links between us are much stronger than the attempts to divide us.”
New pipelines help Hungary further diversify its energy imports
Recently completed pipelines between Greece and Bulgaria, between Poland and Slovakia, as well as the Baltic Pipe Project supplying gas from Norway to Poland, will help Hungary further diversify its energy imports, a deputy leader of Hungarian energy authority MEKH said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pál Ságvári said Europe was witnessing a “golden age” for infrastructure developments aimed at providing alternative energy sources for the region in wake of soaring energy prices and limited access to Russian supplies. He noted there is also a significant demand to upgrade existing pipelines, mentioning plans to double the capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and a “new momentum to complete EastMed”, a pipeline planned to transfer gas from the eastern Mediterranean to south-eastern Europe.
The Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector started operating on Oct. 1, with an annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres. Baltic Pipe was put to operation at the same time with partial capacity, the statement said, adding that its full capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres.
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The Poland-Slovakia connector was completed in August, as “the last missing component” in the north-south corridor connecting the Baltic Sea with the Adriatic, facilitating shipments between the LNG terminal on Krk island and the terminals of Poland and Latvia, the statement said. Gas from southern Europe, north Africa, the Caucasus, as well as Norway will now be available to all countries in Europe, the statement said. The new interconnector will facilitate shipping 4.7 billion cubic metres of gas to Slovakia and 5.7 billion in the reverse direction, which will also provide Hungary an alternative supply route via the existing Hungary-Slovakia connector, the statement added.
Read alsoRussian gas prices continue to rise for Hungary
Orbán’s ally: Hungarian economy on the verge of collapse
The president of the Polish governing party, an ally of Orbán, says the Hungarian economy is on the verge of collapse. They do not want to go the way of Viktor Orbán on EU funds, he said.
Bloomberg reports that Polish President Andrzej Duda and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, spoke out over the weekend about Poland’s stance on the EU funding dispute. The Polish President gave an interview to wpolityce.pl, which will be published today.
According to the introduction to the article, Andrzej Duda said that he thought they had made enough gestures towards the Commission and had fulfilled the conditions they had agreed. The president told Seci magazine that he ruled out Poland conceding any more ground to the European Commission.
Hungary is a cautionary tale for Poland…
Meanwhile, Jaroslaw Kaczynski also spoke out on Saturday, saying he was confident Poland would get the funds after his party wins the upcoming elections. However, he added that it would be unfortunate if they were in the same situation as Hungary with regard to EU funds, Index.hu reports.
“Today, Orbán has had to make a series of concessions to the European Union, with far-reaching consequences, because their economy is simply on the verge of collapse. We cannot make such mistakes,” said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, according to Bloomberg.
Or vice versa?
Interestingly, Tibor Navracsics, the Hungarian minister responsible for the use of EU funds, cited Poland as a cautionary tale on the same issue, for different reasons. In an interview, the minister said that the commitments and their implementation could put Hungary in a better position than Poland, where many issues are being debated. The politician stressed that both the government and the Commission must keep their cool.
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Hungarian government reacts to Putin’s words but does not refute them
According to the Russian President, Poland, Romania and Hungary could even have territorial claims against Ukraine. The first two countries were fast to react to Putin’s harsh words and refuted them right away. Hungary, however, was not so fast and firm.
As we reported earlier today, Vladimir Putin said that Poland, Romania and Hungary ceded territory to Ukraine by force. He added that they have still not given up their desire to take parts of Ukraine and reclaim previously annexed territories.
Romania’s reaction
The Romanian Foreign Ministry reacted to Vladimir Putin’s words in a press statement a day later, on 5 November. As they wrote, “the Romanian Foreign Ministry rejects the statements made in the speech of the President of the Russian Federation on the occasion of the Day of National Unity, which falsely imply that Romania has territorial claims against Ukraine”, Index writes.
“In this context, Romania reaffirms its strong support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” concluded the Romanian Foreign Ministry.
Poland’s reaction
Új Magyar Szó reports that Poland has accused the Russian president of spreading disinformation because of his speech. “He spoke about rumours and fake news that are completely untrue,” Warsaw reacted to Vladimir Putin’s statements.
Hungary’s reaction?
The Hungarian government did not comment for a while, but today, Index reached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In response to their inquiry, they said:
“We do not consider statements deepening the war conflict to be correct. Instead of such statements, we need an immediate ceasefire and peace talks!”
Read alsoPutin: Hungary ceded territory to Ukraine by force
Putin: Hungary ceded territory to Ukraine by force
According to Russian intelligence, Poland has prepared a plan to regain its annexed territories from Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently made a reference to Polish efforts. Hungary was also mentioned.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, some countries, including Poland, have still not given up their desire to take parts of Ukraine and reclaim previously annexed territories.
“We know the vision of some of the Polish political elite to create a great country “from sea to sea”. Before the Second World War, there was a lot of talk about this idea. Now we see the leaders of Poland and Ukraine embracing each other. But the edge, the idea of annexing Ukraine, has not gone away,” said the Russian leader at a meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Russian Historical and Military Historical Societies, Index.hu writes.
The Russian president says that there is talk in Warsaw that Ukraine should be given back the territories it took from Poland in 1939. At the same time, some historical Russian territories were ceded to Ukraine during the Soviet era, but this was done on a voluntary basis, according to the Russian President, in order to “create a common cultural, humanitarian and historical space”.
“These territories were forcibly ceded by Hungary, Romania and Poland. These are completely different situations. We voluntarily, in order to be together, handed over historical territories together with the population, although nobody asked the population, whereas in Poland, as a result of the war, they were taken away by force. Some people in Ukraine should think about this,” added the Russian head of state, according to the Russian state news agency TASZSZ.
Plans are already in the making?
In July, the Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, reported that the Polish leadership had begun working on scenarios for the de facto partition of Ukraine. According to him, Warsaw is convinced that the United States and Britain will be forced to support this plan.
As Naryshkin noted, this is an attempt to repeat for Poland the historic “deal” made after the First World War, when the Entente-represented West recognised Warsaw’s right to occupy part of Ukraine. Poland was then prepared to protect its population from the ‘Bolshevik threat’ and then incorporate these territories into the Polish state.
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Polish mayor received the Hungarian Order of Merit
Mayor of Katowice Marcin Krupa has been decorated with the Hungarian Order of Merit, Knight’s cross in recognition of nurturing Polish-Hungarian friendship, the local mayor’s office said on Friday.
The award granted by President Katalin Novák was handed over by Krakow Consul General Tibor Gerencsér. Katowice has been cooperating for years with its Hungarian sister city Miskolc and has been regularly hosting a Hungarian Festival since 2010. A memorial paying tribute to Poles helping the 1956 Hungarian revolution was inaugurated in Katowice in 2017.
Read alsoRomanian rector: Ukraine must also cede territory to Hungary, Romania
V4 defence ministers meet in Slovakia
The countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) have a vested interest in peace being restored in Ukraine as soon as possible, Hungary’s defence minister said on Tuesday.
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said after a meeting of V4 defence ministers in Banska Stiavnica (Selmecbanya), in southern Slovakia, that the sides had been in agreement that every effort must be made to prevent the escalation of the war and the involvement of the V4, the European Union and NATO in it.
The meeting focused on the war, the current and future cooperation of V4 countries in defence and the defence industry, army development and the Western Balkans, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
Hungary’s position on helping Ukraine has remained unchanged, he said, citing the largest humanitarian scheme in the country’s history to help refuges and assist in caring for the injured, and in demining and training in military first aid.
“We condemn Russian aggression and maintain the importance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he added.
Read alsoHungary, Poland to remain strong military allies, says defence minister
Unique Hotel in the Beskid Niski
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Holidays in Poland – the best Hotel in the South!
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Poland holidays 2022. Is it safe to holiday in Poland?
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Romanian rector: Ukraine must also cede territory to Hungary, Romania
Andrei Marga, former rector of the Babeş-Bolyai Univercity (BBTE), says Ukraine is surrounded by “unnatural borders” and the country should cede territory to Hungary and Romania, among others.
The statements of the 76-year-old Herder Prize-winning Romanian philosopher and political scientist have provoked a significant response. They were made on Friday, during a book fair and book launch in Alba Iulia (Gyulafehervár). The former politician served as education minister between 1997 and 2000 and as foreign minister for a few months in 2012, kronikaonline.ro reports.
“Unnatural borders”
He said on Friday that Ukraine was surrounded by “unnatural borders”. “It has to cede territory to Hungary (Transcarpathia), Poland (Galicia), Romania (Bukovina) and Russia (Donbas and Crimea). These are other countries’ territories,” Andrei Marga was quoted as saying by local portal Alba24.ro.
Marga argued that the conflict in Ukraine would not be resolved if the parties “stalled”. He added that there will be no peace in Europe until the United States, Russia, Germany, Ukraine and China reach some kind of agreement on the current conflict.
“Ukraine is very far from democracy”
“As there is no calm, democracy will suffer,” Marga said, adding that Romania has “nothing to do” with the war in Ukraine and that the country has sufficient energy resources to avoid an energy crisis. The former minister and rector also said Ukraine was “very far from democracy”, with parties banned, media controlled and many wealthy people leaving the country with lots of money.
Shady past
On Saturday, the Bucharest press took note of the statement by Marga, who previously also ran the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), which most called “shocking” and “provocative”. Many recall that years ago, he was found by the Commission of Inquiry to have collaborated with the Romanian communist secret service and to have been a Securitate informer under the alias Horia.
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Hungary, Poland stigmatised due to ‘left-wing ideological campaigns’?
Hungary and Poland have once again become EU member states stigmatised on the back of left-wing ideological campaigns, MEPs Balázs Hidvéghi and Kinga Gál of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party said late on Thursday.
The two European lawmakers commented on the European Parliament’s resolution on Thursday that concluded that respect for human rights had diminished during the coronavirus pandemic in the European Union, especially in Hungary and Poland.
Gál, head of Fidesz’s European parliamentary delegation, said it was regrettable that debates over human rights had become tinged by political ideology, and the interpretation of human rights in many cases had become a tool for the dissemination of left-wing ideas. As an example, she mentioned Hungary’s child protection law, which she said had been subjected to unfair attacks based on ideological prejudice.
Hidvéghi said the report painted a “completely false picture”, portraying the situation of fundamental rights in Europe as “blatantly negative” and continually bringing about an “emergency situation”, which he said could weaken social cohesion.
The Fidesz MEP also criticised the report for “compulsively naming more and more social groups and regurgitating their trumped-up grievances”. He added that, on this basis, the report sought to interfere in the competences of the member states.
Hidvéghi called it lamentable that “the report was drafted in line with the usual scenario: the left abuses an otherwise important issue and once again pushes its own ideology.”
Read alsoHungary could soon be among the most advanced EU member states
Hungary-Poland ties forward-looking
Hungarian-Polish relations are forward- rather than backward-looking, Zsolt Németh, the head of Hungarian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said on Wednesday, declaring an interest in finding solutions to problems instead of dwelling on them.
Addressing a panel discussion on Polish-Hungarian ties at the 31st International Economic Forum in Karpacz, in south-western Poland, Németh welcomed recent comments by President Mateusz Morawiecki on reviving bilateral and Visegrád Group cooperation “in the current difficult economic and political situation”.
In response to Morawiecki’s interview in the Sieci weekly, Németh told MTI that Hungarian-Polish relations had passed through a period of crisis in the past six months.
“We in Hungary, however, have always underscored that we will not allow the war [in Ukraine] to destroy Hungarian-Polish relations,” he said.
He dismissed Hungarian press commentary suggesting that Morawieczki’s change of heart was linked to the issue of blocked EU recovery funds for Poland as “utterly ridiculous”. In disputes with the European Union, Poland and Hungary had always “stood shoulder to shoulder” despite differences over the war in Ukraine, he said.
Read alsoHungarian Justice Minister in Brussels to discuss EU funds
He noted President Katalin Novák’s meeting with Andrzej Duda, her Polish counterpart, in Warsaw in May at which they had agreed to jointly press Brussels “to treat us as equal partners and release funding we are entitled to”. “We stand together against any kind of political blackmail,” Németh said.
Addressing the panel discussion, Ryszard Terlecki, the deputy marshal of the Sejm, reiterated Morawieczki’s position on the need to revive cooperation within the Visegrád Group in areas on which viewpoints are broadly shared. He called the EU’s future such an issue, underscoring that both the Polish and Hungarian government rejects the concept of “a centralised, federalist-type union”.
Terlecki also called for renewing the Visegrád cooperation primarily in economic matters. “We must also return to our alliance formed on EU matters”, he said, adding that concerning the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia the two countries’ positions “may differ slightly”. “But let’s come to terms with the differences and let’s forge ahead,” Terlecki said.
Read alsoHungary, Poland to remain strong military allies, says defence minister
Hungary, Poland to remain strong military allies, says defence minister
Hungary and Poland are strong military allies and will remain so, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Tuesday after talks with Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak in Kielce.
Based on the two countries’ historic alliance and along their common interests and values, relations between Hungary and Poland remain close, strong and effective, the ministry quoted Szalay-Bobrovniczky as saying.
Hungary-Poland military cooperation is excellent under the arrangements of the European Union, NATO and the Visegrad Group, the minister said. Major army development programmes under way in both countries will provide further opportunities for cooperation, he added.
NATO members decided at their Madrid summit to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank, and Hungary has taken on a big role in this regard, he said.
The minister warned against ignoring the effects of the war in Ukraine on illegal migration, adding that this issue must be kept on the EU and NATO agenda with a view to maintaining regional and global security.
The minister granted an Alliance Award to Poland’s Chief of Staff Rajmund Andrejczak in recognition of his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations. He also attended the opening of the International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce.
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Cigarettes worth EUR 4.9m smuggled from Dubai to Hungary in cargo plane
The customs and tax authority (NAV) has seized a consignment of 23 million untaxed cigarettes with a street value of 2 billion forints (EUR 4.9m) from four Polish trucks near the international airport in Debrecen, in eastern Hungary, the authority said on Monday.
The cigarettes made in the United Arab Emirates were smuggled by an international ring to Hungary by a cargo plane arriving at the airport from Dubai, NAV told MTI in a statement.
The cigarettes were seized in a raid carried out in a coordinated operation by Europol and Eurojust which also covered Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Four of the ring’s members have so far been identified, NAV said, adding that three of the members are foreign nationals and the fourth one is a Hungarian citizen. The Hungarian accomplice tasked with arranging the transfer of the cigarettes to Europe was arrested in a hotel in Debrecen. A house search of the man revealed documents, electronic files, seven luxury cars, foreign currency worth 300 million forints and 49 high value wristwatches, NAV said. The man has been taken into pre-trial detention.
Authorities have issued an international warrant against the three other suspects.
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Polish-Hungarian summer university starts in Poland
A summer university in the southeast Polish town of Krasiczyn started on Tuesday, with some 150 Hungarian and Polish students attending.
The five-day event organised by the Waclaw Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation for the fifth time will cover topics like the effect of the war in Ukraine on Europe’s energy security, food supply, as well as the European and global balance of power, Maciej Szymanowski, the head of the institute, said.
The event will also feature panel discussions with Hungarian and Polish politicians and experts, workshop sessions, book presentations, and sports shows.
Read alsoAccident claiming 20 Polish lives near Lake Balaton commemorated
Polish pilgrim bus coming from Hungary suffered deadly accident
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday sent an official message to Mateusz Morawiecki, his Polish counterpart, expressing his condolences over an accident involving a Polish bus in Croatia, the PM’s press chief said.
A bus carrying pilgrims from Poland to a holy site in Medugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, veered off the motorway and slammed into a wall in the early hours of Saturday in Croatia. Of those on the bus, 12 were killed and 32 injured, 19 of them seriously.
“I would like to express my condolences to you and the Polish nation on behalf of myself and the Hungarian people. We will pray for the speedy recovery of those injured and the families of the victims,” Orban said in the message.
Read alsoTerrible: foreign young man fell six metres from the quay
End of Hungarian-Polish friendship, beginning of Orbán-Bolsonaro cooperation?
Hungary has always been proud of its friendship with Poland. Howewer, the Hungarian-Polish friendship may come to an end. While the Polish Prime Minister confirmed that Hungary and his country are now on separate paths, the Hungarian government offered its help to the re-election of the current Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro.
End of Hungarian-Polish friendship?
“I confirm Prime Minister Orbán’s words that Poland and Hungary have parted ways,” Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed on Friday. He also revealed that the reason for this was Viktor Orbán’s speech in Tusványos, reports Index. In his speech in Tusványos, Viktor Orbán also explained that the goals of the two countries are the same. However, while Hungarians see this conflict as a war between two Slavic nations, the Poles feel that they are also part of the fights. The Hungarian Prime Minister added: the war in Ukraine shocked Polish-Hungarian cooperation.
Poland will not take part in the war in Ukraine
The Polish Prime Minister emphasized that Poland did not take part in the war in Ukraine. He also added that in the future, Poland will not intervene in the war, either. He explained that his country is trying to help Ukraine to “resist the overwhelming pressure of the enemy, the aggressor, and Russia’s brutal attack.”
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The Polish press defended the Hungarian Prime Minister
Although Viktor Orbán’s speech in Tusványos was considered as racist by many, the Polish right-wing press defended him. Łukasz Warzecha, a dominant figure in the Polish right-wing press expressed his support for the Hungarian Prime Minister. According to Łukasz Warzecha, the Hungarian PM’s racist words serve as a harsh and accurate diagnosis of the current situation in Europe.
Beginning of Orbán-Bolsonaro friendship?
According to a Brazilian newspaper, Folha de S.Paulo, the Hungarian government has offered its help in the re-election of the current Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro. As hvg.hu writes, at the beginning of July, Péter Szijjártó attended a meeting with Minister of Family Affairs Cristiane Britto in London. However, they did not only discuss religious matters. (They went to attend an international conference on religious freedom.) Szijjártó also allegedly discussed whether the Hungarian government could do something to help Bolsonaro’s re-election.
When asked about the alleged support, the KKM wrote: “evaluating the expression of opinion by a public person showing sympathy at a public or official meeting as interference in the election process goes beyond all limits that assume common sense.” In addition, they wrote: at the meeting, Family Affairs Minister Cristiane Britto “engaged in a polite and constitutional dialogue with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó”.
Gergely Gulyás: both Hungary and Poland had condemned the Russian aggression
Concerning Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s recent statement that Hungary and Poland are making different approaches to the war in Ukraine, Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff said that both countries had condemned the Russian aggression, the violation of an independent nation’s sovereignty by the armed forces of another country. Hungary has also expressed solidarity with and assisted refugees arriving from Ukraine, he added. It was a matter of debates with Poland, however, whether arms deliveries are prolonging the war or helping Ukraine restore its territorial integrity, he said.
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