Polish Minister Reminds Hungary It Can Always Leave EU and NATO Following Orbán’s Critique

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski reminded Hungary that it could leave the EU and NATO after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently criticized Poland.

"I do not understand why Hungary wants to remain a member of organizations that they dislike so much and that supposedly mistreat them. Why does he [Orbán] not form a union with Putin and other similar authoritarian states?" Bartoszewski said.

Bartoszewski also added that Orbán’s policy is currently anti-EU, anti-Ukrainian and anti-Polish, referring to Orbán blocking large sums of money that the EU owes to Poland for military equipment transferred to Ukraine.

"It is the principle that if you do not want to be a member of some club, you can always leave. This is certainly an anti-European, anti-Ukrainian, anti-Polish policy [of Hungary] at the moment."

Bartoszewski emphasized that, in contrast to Orbán, Poland has refrained from engaging in business with Russia since the onset of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, describing the invasion as an assault on Poland, the US, the EU, and NATO.

Previously, during a speech delivered at the Tusványos Summer University in the Romanian resort town of Băile Tuşnad, Orbán had accused the Poles of having the "most hypocritical and sanctimonious policy in all of Europe." He asserted that the Polish continued to engage in "shameless business dealings" with Russia.

"We do not do business with Russia, unlike Prime Minister Orbán, who is on the margins of international society, in the EU and NATO," Bartoszewski said.