Formerly sister nations, the diplomatic relationship between Poland and Hungary reached a new level of tension at the end of the week. “The Hungarian ambassador to Poland will be summoned today to receive an official protest from the Polish side,” Warsaw scathed in a press release on the morning of Friday, December 20. And to double the message by recalling his own ambassador to Hungary for “consultation”. The cause of this sudden rise in temperature: a “hostile act” by Budapest towards Poland, denounces the latter.
The day before, Viktor Orbán’s Hungary announced that it had granted political asylum to a former secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, wanted by the authorities of his country. Marcin Romanowski, 48, is part of PiS, the former ruling party that has become the opposition to current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The man had disappeared from Polish radars around ten days ago, after an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Polish court for alleged fraud, ordering his placement in pre-trial detention for three months. The prosecution accuses this former political official, responsible from 2019 to 2023 for supervising an aid fund for victims of crime, of having committed eleven offenses, including the embezzlement of nearly 40 million euros.
After promptly taking refuge in Hungary, Marcin Romanowski “submitted an asylum request which was granted to him, in accordance with Hungarian and European legislation”, revealed the Hungarian Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Thursday December 19 , in the newspaper Mandine. According to Budapest, “there is concrete evidence of the absence of a fair trial” in Poland, if the opponent agreed to be tried there. According to his lawyer, he is in fact being prosecuted “because of politically motivated actions”. Hungary therefore granted him asylum due to “the direct interference and influence of politicians from the current majority in power in Poland on the ongoing investigation”, defended Marcin Romanowski’s lawyer, who denies any wrongdoing.
“A hostile act” towards Warsaw
After taking office about a year ago, Donald Tusk promised to sweep the former PiS state apparatus with an “iron broom”. “All those who imagine that they will be able to use tricks, evasions and remain unpunished are wrong,” he declared at the time. Jarosław Kaczyński, the historic leader of PiS, defended Romanowski’s decision to seek asylum in Hungary, declaring before the Polish Parliament on Friday that he was not “fleeing justice” but, on the contrary, avoiding “the actions of people who are in places where they should not be.
The Hungarian decision was seen as a diplomatic affront by Poland, increasing tension between the two nations. The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, immediately condemned on the social network X “an act hostile to the Republic of Poland and the principles of the European Union”. Same outraged reaction from the Minister of the Interior, Tomasz Siemoniak, who responded by denouncing Viktor Orbán’s “confrontational” posture.
Poland threatens to involve European justice
Warsaw even threatens, if Budapest does not hand over Marcin Romanowski to Poland, to ask the European Commission to initiate proceedings against Hungary. An “unprecedented” situation, the current Polish Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, was still indignant. According to him, his country cannot “allow such people to escape their responsibilities”.
Twenty-four hours before this new scandal broke out, Viktor Orbán accused the Tusk government of circumventing the rule of law to pursue its interests and take revenge on PiS. “Polish patriots were expelled from the government, then a rainbow liberal coalition was formed. We are patriots, they consider us enemies,” he said. “The rule of law and legal instruments are used to settle scores with political opponents,” added the Hungarian Prime Minister.
Relations between Warsaw and Budapest have deteriorated significantly since the defeat in the October 2023 legislative elections of the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), of which Viktor Orbán was close, and the coming to power of pro-European forces led by Donald Tusk . Before this announcement, the Hungarian leader had promised to offer asylum to anyone subject to “political prosecution”. Poland is preparing to take over the rotating EU presidency from Hungary next month. Donald Tusk has already announced a reset under the leadership of Warsaw.