Hungarian Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar is travelling to Poland on Tuesday, 19 May, for his first official foreign trip since taking office, where he is set to meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in what both governments are portraying as the beginning of a new chapter in Polish\u2013Hungarian relations.<\/p>\n
According to statements from Budapest and local media reports, Magyar will arrive with an unusually large delegation<\/a> consisting of approximately six ministers and senior officials, underlining the strategic significance his government attaches to ties with Warsaw.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Anita Orb\u00e1n, Economy and Energy Minister Istv\u00e1n Kapit\u00e1ny, Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Transport and Investment Minister D\u00e1vid Vit\u00e9zy, Agriculture Minister Szabolcs B\u00f3na, Culture Minister Zolt\u00e1n Tarr, and National Security Adviser P\u00e9ter T\u00f3th are all expected to participate in the talks.<\/p>\n Adding further symbolism and political significance to the visit, Anita Orb\u00e1n announced on Monday that her ministry had recalled Hungary\u2019s ambassador to Warsaw, who had been appointed under the previous government led by Viktor Orb\u00e1n. According to the foreign minister, \u2018a new era requires a new approach,\u2019 adding that Budapest intends to place bilateral cooperation \u2018on new foundations\u2019.<\/p>\n Hungarian\u2013Polish relations are entering a new phase. In the coming days, we will arrive in Poland with a high-level delegation, with the shared goal of placing our cooperation on new foundations.<\/p>\n A new era requires a new approach. Therefore, I have decided to recall Hungary\u2019s\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Anita Orban (@_OrbanAnita) May 18, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Speaking about the trip on Monday, Magyar said the discussions would focus primarily on trade and energy cooperation. He also emphasized the importance of reviving regional cooperation within the Visegr\u00e1d Group, arguing that \u2018for V4 cooperation to become strong again, a very strong Polish\u2013Hungarian axis is indispensable.\u2019<\/p>\n Magyar\u2019s itinerary includes stops in Krak\u00f3w, Warsaw, and Gda\u0144sk. In Krak\u00f3w, the Hungarian prime minister is expected to meet the local archbishop and representatives of civil society before travelling by train to Warsaw for formal talks with Polish leaders.<\/p>\n In addition to meeting Tusk and members of the Polish government, Magyar is also scheduled to hold talks with Polish President Karol Nawrocki<\/a>, as well as the speakers of both chambers of parliament. In Gda\u0144sk, he plans to meet former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Wa\u0142\u0119sa and lay a wreath at the city\u2019s Solidarity memorial.<\/p>\n The Master and His Disciple?<\/p>\n The visit also reflects the increasingly close political relationship between Magyar and Tusk<\/a>. Although the two leaders come from different political traditions, their political trajectories\u2014and much of the criticism directed at them\u2014share notable similarities. Tusk also openly supported political change in Hungary ahead of the 2026 election and met Magyar even before the campaign entered its decisive phase.<\/p>\n Tusk returned to power in 2023, ending the eight-year rule of Orb\u00e1n ally right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, a period characterized by constant disputes with Brussels, the freezing of EU funds on rule-of-law grounds, and what critics described as an increasingly centralized power structure.<\/p>\n Tusk campaigned on restoring the rule of law and normalizing relations with the European Union, while his central campaign promise was to unblock frozen EU funds. He also pledged to dismantle what he described as the PiS \u2018deep state\u2019, ranging from the judiciary to public media institutions.<\/p>\n We held a friendly discussion with Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, in Munich. We agreed that both Hungary and Poland must do everything possible to help achieve a Russian\u2013Ukrainian peace agreement as soon as possible. \u2014 Magyar P\u00e9ter (Ne f\u00e9ljetek) (@magyarpeterMP) February 13, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n P\u00e9ter Magyar and the Tisza Party ran a strikingly similar campaign in 2026, employing comparable symbolism and political messaging to Tusk\u2019s 2023 campaign. Magyar\u2019s central promise was likewise to secure frozen EU funds and dismantle what he described as Orb\u00e1n\u2019s \u2018deep state\u2019. On 12 April, the Tisza Party ended the 16-year rule of Orb\u00e1n and Fidesz\u2013KDNP with a landslide constitutional supermajority victory, giving Magyar a considerably stronger mandate than the one Tusk received in Poland.<\/p>\n After taking office, Tusk immediately began implementing his agenda, what many figures linked to PiS and broader European right-wing circles described as the opposite of restoring the rule of law<\/a>. These included overhauling state media\u2014including controversial police-assisted interventions at public broadcasters\u2014attempts to restructure the judiciary, and the launch of multiple criminal investigations against former government officials.<\/p>\n Magyar appears to be moving along a similar trajectory. Major restructuring and funding reductions are already expected in Hungarian state media, while the prime minister has called on nearly all public officials appointed under Orb\u00e1n\u2014including the President of Hungary<\/a>\u2014to resign by 31 May or face removal. <\/p>\n Magyar has also repeatedly stated that former ministers and businessmen linked to Orb\u00e1n will be held accountable for what he described as the \u2018looting\u2019 of the country over the past 16 years. Fidesz and Orb\u00e1n have increasingly begun using arguments similar to those previously used by PiS against Tusk\u2019s government, while Tisza has pointed to the historic mandate it secured in the election.<\/p>\n Post-Orb\u00e1n Polish\u2013Hungarian Thaw<\/p>\n Relations between Warsaw and Budapest became increasingly strained during Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s final years in office, primarily because of major disagreements over Russia and the war in Ukraine. While Hungary maintained a more cautious and pragmatic approach towards Moscow, Poland emerged as one of Kyiv\u2019s strongest supporters within both NATO and the European Union. <\/p>\n While the Tisza Party has taken a firm stance against Russia\u2019s aggression towards Ukraine, it has also signalled a more pragmatic approach on energy policy, particularly regarding Russian oil<\/a> imports, as it pledged to maintain one of the flagship policies of the Orb\u00e1n era: the reduced utility price scheme for residential consumers. <\/p>\n On Ukraine, P\u00e9ter Magyar has tied the resetting of bilateral relations to resolving minority rights issues concerning the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, a western region of Ukraine. According to Anita Orb\u00e1n, expert-level negotiations<\/a> on the matter were already underway as of Monday.<\/p>\n Tensions between the Tusk and Orb\u00e1n administrations escalated further following a series of diplomatic disputes, including Hungary granting political asylum<\/a> to two former Polish government officials who were under investigation by the Tusk government. Poland responded with several retaliatory diplomatic measures, including recalling its ambassador and excluding the Hungarian ambassador from events connected to Poland\u2019s EU presidency.<\/p>\n P\u00e9ter Magyar first announced on election night, 12 April, that his first official foreign visit as prime minister would be to Warsaw, describing the trip as part of efforts to rebuild Polish\u2013Hungarian relations and strengthen regional cooperation. He later also talked about a broader V9 format<\/a>, including Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Austria.<\/p>\n Following the Polish visit, Magyar is expected to continue on to Austria on 21 May for meetings with Austrian government officials.<\/p>\n Related articles:<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t
We agreed that, immediately following the change of\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/mprf9n7ouw<\/a><\/p>\n