Berliner Tageszeitung - Magyar, Tusk tout Hungary's return to Europe in post-Orban era

Magyar chose Poland for his first foreign visit after his election win over Hungary's longtime leader Viktor Orban, a Kremlin-friendly nationalist who oversaw years of tensions with both Poland under Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the European Union.

Hailing Magyar's crushing of Orban at the ballot box in April, Tusk told his Hungarian counterpart that Budapest and Warsaw would work to defend their common interests in Brussels in the post-Orban era.

"Through our daily work, we shall show that Hungary and Poland are one," the pro-European leader told a joint news conference with Magyar. He praised Budapest's "return to Europe, to high standards, to honesty, to a genuine democracy".

Tusk also vowed to "work together in Brussels on geopolitical issues and to defend our various common interests, because we have practically nothing but common interests".

Magyar said Poland had much to teach Hungary about how to restore the rule of law, fight corruption and unblock EU funds.

Drawing parallels between the two leaders' electoral wins over entrenched nationalist, authoritarian leaders, Magyar said his host in Warsaw "was also faced with similar problems".

"And I am counting heavily on the experience of the prime minister of Poland," he added. "Hungary will be a partner of Poland in all areas."

- Blocked funds -

In 2023, Tusk's coalition ended eight years of rule by the nationalist populists Law and Justice (PiS) party, an ally of Orban on the European stage.

Since then, relations between Orban's Hungary and Poland have been poor, with Tusk, a firm ally of Ukraine, frequently butting heads with the pro-Kremlin leader in Budapest.

Now Hungary's new leader Magyar is counting on Tusk's backing to try to recover billions of euros of EU funds frozen by Brussels as relations with Budapest deteriorated during Orban's rule.

Piotr Serafin, the EU's current budget commissioner, was Tusk's chief of staff when Tusk was president of the European Commission between 2014 and 2019.

A delegation from the commission is expected in Budapest this week and Magyar hopes to finalise a deal with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen when he visits Brussels next Monday.

Tusk also promised Hungary his help with any future diversification of its energy supply. Budapest is highly dependent on Russian fossil fuels.

In contrast to Orban, Magyar repeated his support for Ukraine's right to defend itself against Russian attacks, despite his country's longstanding disputes with Kyiv, including over the status of its Hungarian-speaking minority.

"Ukraine is the victim, and it has every right to defend its territorial sovereignty and integrity by all means at its disposal," he insisted, expressing hope for "a new chapter in relations between Hungary and Ukraine".

- Austria next -

Besides Tusk, Magyar also met the country's nationalist president on Wednesday, Karol Nawrocki -- who travelled to Budapest to support Orban in the final days of the Hungarian election campaign.

Poland is Hungary's second-largest economic partner after Germany.

On Wednesday evening, Magyar is expected in Austria, where economic cooperation and migration policy will be key topics.

"I would like to strengthen relations between Hungary and Austria for historical, but also cultural and economic reasons," he has said.

The two countries are closely intertwined, both historically within the former Austro-Hungarian empire, and economically today.

Vienna has long sought to deepen its ties with Budapest and other states in the region.

M. Taylor--BTZ