Poland will attempt rapprochement with Hungary after a falling out earlier this year over the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.
Morawiecki told government-friendly Sieci weekly on Monday that he’s going to "work out a formula in which, by clearly naming the discrepancies, respecting the sensitivity of Ukrainian friends” Poland will be able to conduct "joint activities with Hungary in those areas where we share values and interests.”
The attempt to turn the page on strained relations between the two eastern members of the European Union comes as both nations remain shut out of accessing funds from the EU’s post-pandemic aid over alleged democratic backsliding.
Hungary and Poland have for year gave each other cover as they defied the EU over the rule of law. But the steady friendship soured after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban refused to make a clean break with President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Poland’s government, meantime, has been among the most hard-line in the EU against Russia, prompting the country’s facto leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski in April to say that the special relationship with Hungary can’t continue "under the current terms.”
In recent weeks, the government in Warsaw has taken an increasingly confrontational stance against the bloc and repeatedly accused the opposition of colluding with Germany to undermine its chances in next year’s general election.
