Poland’s deputy foreign minister has criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Hungary should leave the European Union and NATO if it dislikes their policies, suggested Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski on Sunday. This came in response to Orban’s sharp criticism of Warsaw’s policies the previous day.
During a visit to Romania, Orban accused Poland of having “the most sanctimonious and two-faced policy in the whole of Europe,” claiming it is “obliviously doing business with the Russians,” while “morally lecturing” Budapest for doing the same.
”We do not do business with Russia, unlike Prime Minister Orban, who is on the margins of international society – both in the European Union and NATO,” Bartoszewski retorted, as quoted by PAP news agency.
“I don’t really understand why Hungary wants to remain a member of organizations that it doesn’t like so much,” Bartoszewski continued.
”If you don’t want to be a member of a club, you can always leave,” added the official, suggesting that Orban create a union with Russia instead.
Hungary’s prime minister was condemned by several EU politicians earlier this month for going against the bloc’s policies and embarking on a “peace mission” to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, during which he visited Kiev, Moscow, and China. Budapest has been granted exemptions from the EU sanctions and continues to buy oil and gas from Russia.
During his speech in Romania, Orban did not specify what he meant when saying that Poland was still doing business with Moscow.
The Russian financial daily Vedomosti reported last week that Poland had become a major buyer of Russian fertilizer urea. The publication cited Eurostat data as showing that Warsaw had increased imports by 25% between January and May this year, compared to the same period in 2023, amid a bloc-wide increase of Russian fertilizer imports. EU sanctions against Russia exclude food supplies and fertilizers.
The Polish financial daily Rzeczpospolita reported in February that, compared to 2019–2021, the period before the introduction of a broad range of sanctions against Russia, Poland’s trade turnover with some Eurasian countries, such as Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, had increased by several hundred percent. The publication suggested that the trade between Poland and Russia was continuing through intermediaries in other countries, thus bypassing the sanctions.
Poland has been among the most vocal supporters of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. It has served as NATO’s primary conduit for weapons, ammunition, and equipment deliveries to Kiev, while maintaining that it is not actually a party to the hostilities.