Hungary’s Orbán endorses Polish conservative opposition presidential candidate

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced his support for conservative opposition Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki ahead of Sunday’s run-off election, in which Nawrocki is competing against government-aligned centrist Rafał Trzaskowski.

His endorsement comes two days after Donald Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, also called on Poles to vote for Nawrocki and described Trzaskowski as “an absolute train wreck of a leader”.

Noem’s declaration of support came during CPAC Poland, the first time that the prominent US conservative conference has been held in the country. Orbán’s remarks came today at the Hungarian offshoot of CPAC.

“On Sunday, presidential elections will be held in Poland,” said Orbán, quoted by Polsat News. “Long live Nawrocki!”

The Hungarian leader then pointed to Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s former conservative prime minister, and said: “If you want to know what true liberal democracy looks like, ask him. Unheard-of things are happening in Poland. All European rules and principles are being trampled. And Brussels supports it.”

Morawiecki and his national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party have accused Poland’s current government, led by former European Council President Donald Tusk, of violating democracy and the rule of law.

Elsewhere in his speech, Orbán announced a “patriotic plan” to “transform” the European Union. “We want to take Europe back from migrants. We want a Christian culture, schools based on national principles,” he declared.

Orbán’s Fidesz party has long been closely aligned with PiS, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023 but is now in opposition. Though Nawrocki is technically an independent, PiS is supporting his presidential bid.

PiS’s relationship with Orbán has, however, faced some criticism in Poland, in particular due to the Hungarian leader’s close relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. That led relations between PiS and Fidesz to cool after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though they have subsequently warmed again.

After Orbán’s endorsement of Nawrocki today, a number of figures from Poland’s ruling coalition, which contains pro-EU parties ranging from left to centre-right, posted pictures on social media of Orbán and Putin together.

“Congratulations on the support from Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” foreign minister Radosław Sikorski wrote to Nawrocki, before asking: “Will you pursue a similar policy towards Putin and the European Union?”

Last week, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland accused Nawrocki of “playing into Russia’s hands” by declaring his opposition to Ukrainian membership of NATO.

Nawrocki has also called for measures to ensure that Poles receive preferential access to public services ahead of immigrants, the majority of whom are Ukrainians.

Polls suggest that Sunday’s presidential election run-off will be an extremely tight race between Trzaskowski and Nawrocki. The winner will succeed current President Duda when his second and final five-year term in office ends in August.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: European Union

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.