When Peter Magyar, whose center-right Tisza party won the parliamentary elections in Hungary on April 12, 2026, Polish liberals were thrilled. “Welcome to Europe,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter. He also posted a video in which he is speaking on the phone with election winner Magyar during his visit to South Korea. “I think I’m even happier than you,” Tusk said excitedly at the time.
On Tuesday, ten days after his inauguration on May 9, 2026, Magyar’s first trip abroad took him to Poland, “our natural ally,” as Hungary’s new leader called Poles last year.
Historically, Poland and Hungary have mostly had close relations. Under the Polish right-wing nationalist governments of the Law and Justice Party (PiS, 2015–2023) and the Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz, 2010–2026), Warsaw and Budapest formed an illiberal, EU-critical coalition for years. However, this coordination was under increasing pressure, especially since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The Polish right-wing party has never supported the pro-Russian policies of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s longtime prime minister.
In late 2023, when Tusk’s pro-European centre-left government took power in Poland, relations reached a low point. “Everything is clear between us, we have different views on every issue,” Tusk told Polish reporters in October 2025. He said that Orbán opposes democratic norms and judicial transparency.
Tension is increasing in relationships
Relations between Budapest and Warsaw cooled further when Hungary granted political asylum to Poland’s former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputy Marcin Romanowski following Tusk’s election victory. Both politicians are being investigated at home on suspicion of corruption. However, Hungary’s new Prime Minister wants to improve Polish-Hungarian relations and present himself as a reliable, pro-European partner.
Marcin Bosacki, State Secretary of the Polish Foreign Ministry, explains that Magyar’s visit to Poland is a “symbolic one”. “It is important for us that the new Hungarian government is demonstrating through such a powerful symbolic signal that friendship with Poland is important.”
rebuilding trust
Sociologist Edit Zgut-Przybylska, a researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest, told DW that both sides have high expectations for the meeting. “The trust that was destroyed by the pro-Russian and extremely anti-European policies of the former Hungarian government must be restored,” he said.
Magyar and the seven ministers will visit Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk during the trip, where the Hungarian prime minister is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President Karol Nawrocki and former Polish President Lech Walesa.
Magyar’s visit could also support Orban’s plan to lead Hungary back on a more EU-friendly path after 16 years of rule. In the process, it also wants to recover frozen EU funds. Tusk’s advice could be useful: The Polish prime minister had a long career in the European institutions and also secured the release of €137 billion ($159 billion) in EU funding after his election victory.
Reconciliation on Ukraine aid
Meanwhile, Polish politicians are hoping for an agreement on the issue of aid to Ukraine. Orbán’s government had frozen EU payments of about two billion Polish zlotys (about €471 million/$547 million) for military equipment supplied by Poland to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. Polish diplomat Bosacki called it a “shameful decision” by Orbán.
Magyar and Tusk are also likely to find consensus soon on issues such as migration restrictions and climate policy: Since taking office 2.5 years ago, the once-liberal Polish prime minister has shifted many of his views to the right.
Reviving the V4?
Magyar has repeatedly called for the revival of the “Visegrad Group”, consisting of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Also known as “V4”, the group began in the early 1990s. It had become virtually inactive in recent years amid disputes between Orbán and Tusk. In early May, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico posted a joint photo with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Tusk. The caption reads: “The Three Musketeers await the revival of the Fourth and V4.”
But Martin Wokalek, director of Brussels-based think tank Europium, warned that it would take more than a selfie to find new life for the international group. In an interview with DW Vokalec said he initially hoped for practical cooperation on specific issues. Meanwhile, Poland has its sights set on other international ties, he said. “Poland now sees itself as a regional power and wants to get much closer to Germany and France.”
Although Poland, with its strong economy, serves as a regional leader in Central and Eastern Europe, Magyar will not be at a low level during the talks in Warsaw. At last, he has achieved what Tusk could only dream of: a majority that allows him to rule unimpeded. On the other hand, the Polish Prime Minister is relying on a strange coalition. Christian Democratic and conservative partners continue to block his campaign promises, for example, liberalizing abortion laws or same-sex partnerships.
how to fight corruption
Magyar’s big promise to his voters was to crack down on corruption among the old elite that had surrounded Orbán and his Fidesz party. In Tusk, he got a partner who made a similar promise to his voters but has yet to deliver. The Polish daily warned, “Magyars should learn from Poland’s example that they should not give up. Delays in holding corrupt politicians accountable lead to voter frustration.” Gazeta Wyborcza.
However, the Magyars will not be able to bring the gift that their Polish partners would love to receive: they would like the return of the desired Polish politicians, Zbigniew Ziobro and Marcin Romanowski, but they have already left Hungary – possibly aided by the old regime – before the new prime minister was sworn in.
This article was originally published in German.