How soulmates Hungary and Poland fell out over Ukraine war

With one demanding stronger sanctions and the other blaming the EU for soaring energy prices, relations remain tense

In December 2021, Poland's ultraconservative, nationalist government hosted some of the biggest names in European far-right politics, including France's Marine Le Pen and Hungary's Viktor Orban. At the close of the Warsaw gathering, the group issued a declaration against social engineering" aimed at creating a new European nation" and made promises, largely unfulfilled, to work together in the European parliament.

Only a few months after the Warsaw summit, the governments of Poland and Hungary, who have been ideological soul mates in the EU for years, fell out over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Warsaw has been one of Kyiv's staunchest supporters, urging tougher sanctions, Hungary's leader, Orban, has described Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as his opponent" and blamed the EU's Russia policy for inflation and soaring energy prices. Despite a few tentative olive branches, Polish-Hungarian relations remain tense.