Polish president cancels meeting with Orban after Hungarian leader's trip to Moscow
Polish President Karol Nawrocki cancelled a meeting with Viktor Orban after the Hungarian prime minister travelled to Moscow to discuss energy ties between Russia and Hungary, Nawrocki's office said on Nov. 30.
Nawrocki and Orban were set to meet a day after the Dec. 3 summit of the Visegrad Group in Hungary, where the presidents of Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia will gather.
"President K. Nawrocki decided to limit the program of his visit to Hungary exclusively to the summit of the presidents of the Visegrad Group," Marcin Przydacz, head of the international policy office of the Polish presidency, posted on X.
"Europe's security depends on solidarity action, including in the field of energy," Przydacz wrote, while referring to Orban's trip to Moscow.
The EU is phasing out imports of Russian gas, nuclear energy, and oil. Hungary, which is reliant on Russia for 86% of its oil, according to the Atlantic Council — up from 61% before the full-scale invasion — has repeatedly protested European policies aimed at ending imports of Russian energy.
Orban said on Nov. 14 that Hungary would sue the EU over its decision to ban Russian gas imports.
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister and a member of the Civic Coalition party, the opposing political bloc to Nawrocki, described the rebuff of Orban as "interesting" in a post on X.
"A few more months and maybe they'll realize that those who hate the European Union and Ukraine usually love (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," he wrote.
Nawrocki has opposed Ukraine's NATO and EU accession, and has repeatedly called on Kyiv to address historical issues between the two countries, including the 1943–45 Volhynia massacres.
At the same time, the Polish president has backed continued military assistance for Kyiv and repeatedly warned against the Russian threat to Poland and Europe.
Przydacz's statement on X also said that "President Karol Nawrocki consistently advocates for seeking real ways to end the war in Ukraine caused by the Russian Federation."
