Diplomatic feud erupts between Hungary and Poland over conflicting views on Russia

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, left, speaks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as they pose for a group photo during a summit in Brussels in March. Poland, like Germany, France and most other European nations, is a staunch ally of Ukraine while Hungary’s far-right populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin among all European Union leaders. That triggered a denial and angry response from a Polish deputy foreign minister, Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski, who said Sunday: “We do not do business with Russia, unlike Prime Minister Orban, who is on the margins of international society — both in the European Union and NATO.” Poland was once dependent on Russian energy sources, but has been working for years to wean itself off Russian oil and gas. Magda Jakubowska, vice president of Visegrad Insight, a policy journal focused on Central Europe, said Poland might still have some Russian oil in reserves from past deliveries, but that it no longer imports oil from Russia. Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto shot back at Bartoszewski on Facebook by saying: “For a long time we tolerated the provocations and hypocrisy of the current Polish government with the intention of preserving the Polish-Hungarian brotherhood, but we have had enough.” Poland and Hungary historically have strong ties.