Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski publicly rebuked President Karol Nawrocki on Saturday over his planned trip to Budapest to support Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of parliamentary elections, according to a post Sikorski published on the platform X.
Investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi first reported that Nawrocki is set to travel to Budapest on 23 March, with the stated aim of backing Orbán's election campaign and restoring ties between the two leaders. The visit marks a reversal: in December, Nawrocki cancelled a previously scheduled trip to Budapest after Orbán met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sikorski listed specific grievances against Orbán to justify his criticism. The Hungarian prime minister, he noted, continues to block the adoption of the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia and has secured support from Russian military intelligence in his election campaign. "President Nawrocki will be in Budapest on Monday to support Viktor Orbán in his election campaign," Sikorski wrote. "The same one who is blocking the 20th package of sanctions against Russia and the return of 2 billion zlotys for equipment that the Polish army gave to Ukraine. In a campaign in which Orbán is scaremongering about an alleged Ukrainian invasion, supported in this by a special GRU team."
Sikorski also noted the company Nawrocki would be keeping in Budapest that day. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen are due to arrive in the Hungarian capital on March 23 for a congress of the far-right Patriots for Europe alliance in the European Parliament — both of whom Sikorski described as supporters of Putin.
The minister closed with a direct address to the president: "Mr President, please take note of why Orbán's nationalism and corruption have made Hungary the poorest country in the European Union. Is that what you want for Poland?"
The rebuke comes against the backdrop of a separate finding by investigative journalists that Russia deployed a team of political technologists operating out of its embassy in Budapest to run a disinformation campaign in support of Orbán.
Orbán, meanwhile, signalled no intention to shift position. On the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels, he stated that Hungary would not unblock any decisions favourable to Ukraine until the Druzhba pipeline resumes transporting Russian oil.
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