Two fugitive politicians poison the relations between Budapest and Warsaw. “Hungary's leadership is closer to Moscow than to the EU”

The Polish Minister of Justice, Waldemar Zurek, on Thursday accused the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, of being closer to Russia than to Europe, reviving a dispute between the two member states of the European Union that Budapest qualified as an unjustified provocation, reports Reuters, taken by Agerpres.

Zurek expressed his frustration with Budapest in an interview with Reuters, when asked about two former Polish officials accused of embezzlement who are protected by Hungary.

He referred to the case, as well as Orban's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the fact that Hungary is blocking funds for Poland to support Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion.

“It seems to me that today the leadership of Hungary is closer to the leadership in Moscow than to the leadership of the EU, and I say this with great sadness and at the same time with great concern,” said Zurek. “Unfortunately, Orban wants to dynamite the EU from within, and his pro-Russian policies are completely unacceptable to the majority of EU citizens,” Zurek concluded.

Orban has accused Poland of making incorrect and provocative remarks about its ties with Moscow, which he claims are in Hungary's national interest. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the European Union's sanctions against Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine are self-destructive.

Former Polish Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, who faces 26 charges, including leading an organized crime group, is in Hungary and could seek asylum in that country, following the example of his former deputy Marcin Romanowski, who faces similar charges. Both say they will not return to Poland because they would not benefit from a fair trial under Donald Tusk's government, which denies the charges, stressing that the Polish judiciary is independent.

Orban met Ziobro in Budapest in October and accused Warsaw of a “political witch hunt”.

A Polish court will decide in the coming weeks whether to issue a European arrest warrant for Ziobro.

“When you have a European arrest warrant, it is an agreement between all EU countries that we respect and trust in our own national justice systems (…). Today we have a situation where Hungary says we grant asylum to Mr. Romanowski, which, in my opinion, violates this EU agreement,” explained Zurek.

“It seems that the next issue will be the examination of the actions of the Hungarian state. And maybe Poland will be forced to expose this abnormal situation in the European forum, where Hungary violates the rules of the European arrest warrant by granting asylum,” said the Polish official.