Hungary is an important partner for Poland, said newly elected Polish President Karol Nawrocki to a Hungarian magazine, in his first international interview published on June 9, adding that he will build cooperation within the regional Visegrad Group, Reuters reported.
The Visegrad Group, consisting of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, had receded into the background after the liberal coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk took power in 2023 from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had close ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Eurosceptic Karol Nawrocki narrowly won the Polish presidential election this month, delivering a significant blow to the centrist government of Donald Tusk’s efforts to solidify Warsaw’s pro-European orientation.
Orbán stated on Friday that Nawrocki’s victory was “fantastically good,” welcoming the success of an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Hungary is a very important partner for Poland… We face serious tasks, such as building the Visegrad Group, which will be an important format for me, as well as strengthening the (military alliance) eastern flank of NATO and the Bucharest Nine,” Nawrocki said in an interview with the Hungarian newspaper Mandiner, as reported by Reuters.
“I certainly want to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is a very effective politician, as evidenced by his repeated election results in Hungary. And I count on good cooperation with him, just like with other countries, in the interest of the region,” he added.
It is not yet clear what Nawrocki’s policy towards Ukraine will be, but he reiterated his opposition to Kyiv’s plans to join the European Union.
Poland strategically supports Ukraine, because “the biggest threat to me, as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation,” he said. He added that “Ukraine must also understand that other countries – including Poland, Hungary, and other European nations – have their own interests.”
