As 23 March is celebrated as the Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship in Hungary (and likewise, as the Day of Polish-Hungarian Friendship in Poland), it seems opportune to overview the current state of relations between the two countries that have been allies for centuries.
While the early months of the invasion of Ukraine brought about a fallout between Poland and Hungary, it seems that the historical friendship between Budapest and Warsaw is gradually being restored.
After February 2022, tensions arose between the two countries because Poland, largely due to its historical experience, was fully in favour of the sanctions imposed on Russia, while Hungary took a more reserved stance, although Budapest did condemn the invasion in no uncertain terms. Hungary made it clear that it would not provide military, only humanitarian assistance to Kyiv and opposed most sanctions against Russia on the grounds that they have an adverse effect on European economies.
While the summer months of 2022 were marked by a loss of enthusiasm for the Polish-Hungarian friendship, especially on Poland’s part,
soon afterwards Warsaw and Budapest began a gradual rapprochement.
The first sign of reconciliation came in September 2022, when Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview that Poland and Budapest can work together even despite their differences. The Prime Minister acknowledged that ‘cooperation within the V4 will significantly strengthen our countries,’ highlighting the importance and mutually beneficiary nature of coordinating between Central European countries, especially between Hungary and Poland that share a long-standing friendship and centuries of common history. A month later, in November, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met at a V4 summit, which was an even more explicit gesture of reconciliation.
Then President Katalin Novák paid a visit to Warsaw in February 2023, holding honest conversations on the two countries’ differences in opinion and strengthening the two countries’ friendship.
Most recently, on 20 March 2023, after Petr Pavel criticised the V4, Mateusz Morawiecki spoke in a friendly tone about the cooperation, expressing his hope that it will soon be renewed.
The two countries are clearly aware that they need each other’s backs at the EU level.
The due EU recovery funds are still being withheld from both Budapest and Warsaw. The need for further cooperation is highlighted by the fact that in February the two countries lost a joint court challenge against EU funding being conditional on certain democratic standards.
Now as Hungary and Poland celebrate their historic friendship on 23 March, it can be expected that the reconciliation between the two countries will continue. Demonstrating that the bond between the two states is more than just political declarations or self-interested cooperation, Hungary is marking the Day of Hungarian–Polish friendship with a series of cultural events across the country. In Veszprém, visitors can get acquainted with the works of famous Polish painters at interactive events. A few days ago, on 15 March, both Poland and Hungary remembered that some of the celebrated heroes of the 1848(–1849 freedom fight (such as General Bem) were from Poland and joined Hungary’s struggle for independence as volunteers. These extraordinary Polish men believed in the importance of national sovereignty—an ideal and value that both countries cherish. As yet another example of vivid cultural exchanges between the two countries, on 23 March an album is being released in Budapest where ten songs of Polish composers are performed by Hungarian artists, reminding the public of the unbreakable bond between the Poles and the Magyars.
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