Poland offered Hungary support in reducing its dependence on Russian energy on May 20, as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar pledged to work together to advance shared interests in Brussels and revive Central European cooperation.

The meeting in Warsaw marked a U-turn for Warsaw and Budapest after years of cold relations between the two capitals under the administration of the now-former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose staunchly pro-Russian stance was awkward to stomach even for otherwise ideologically akin Polish populists before Tusk took over in 2023.

Tusk said Poland could help Hungary reduce its dependence on Russian energy suppliers, citing Warsaw’s successful shift from heavy reliance on gas and oil from the east.

“Energy security is where we can strengthen our cooperation, and of course we will gladly welcome the experience Poland has to offer,” Magyar told a joint press conference in the Polish capital.

The Hungarian PM was making his first foreign trip since winning Hungary’s April election in which he and his party Tisza swept aside Orbán’s Fidesz and secured a supermajority in parliament. 

Magyar’s trip began on May 19 in Kraków, and he was due to meet Polish anti-communist leader Lech Wałęsa before returning to Budapest on May 21.

The warming of bilateral ties could help stabilise regional cooperation, although Poland is expected to enter the campaign season later this year. Shared interests may include the effective use of EU SAFE funds, countering Russian influence and defending key parts of the bloc’s seven-year budget.

“Hungary and Poland will act as one fist, whether in Brussels, and in geopolitical matters, and in advancing our various shared interests, because we have almost exclusively shared interests,” Tusk said in Warsaw.

Coinciding with the visit, Foreign Minister Anita Orban announced that Hungary’s ambassador to Poland, Istvan Ijgyarto, would be replaced, saying bilateral relations were entering a new chapter that required a new diplomatic approach.

Ijgyarto previously served as Hungary’s ambassador to Russia from 2010 to 2014 and later to Ukraine from 2018 to 2023, before assuming the Warsaw post in October 2024.

Magyar also said Hungary would try to revive the Visegrad Four group, which currently includes Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and could seek to expand the regional format to include countries like Austria or the non-EU Western Balkans.

Magyar also used the visit to contrast Poland’s infrastructure with Orbán’s record at home, praising Polish railways after travelling by train from Kraków to Warsaw.

“This is a good illustration of how EU funds are being used ... Unfortunately, however, in Hungary over the past 20 years, we have not experienced this,” Magyar said.