Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has blasted former Polish PM Donald Tusk on X, calling him a war agitator and accusing him of turning Poland into a Brussels puppet amid domestic turmoil.
Orban accuses Tusk of war propaganda
On 1 November, Viktor Orban posted on X that Donald Tusk had launched another attack on Hungary. He said Tusk was acting because “he has serious problems in Poland – his party lost the presidential election, his government is unstable, and he himself is losing in the polls.” Orban added that Tusk, along with European People’s Party chairman Manfred Weber, is “one of the most outspoken war agitators in Europe.”
Tusk’s furor over Brussels policy and alleged panic
Orban dismissed Tusk as a man who has turned Poland into a vassal of Brussels and criticized his stance on Ukraine. He claimed that “Ukraine is running out of European money, Poles are tired of war, and Tusk cannot change course because he made Poland a vassal of Brussels.” Orban said Tusk is now panicking, persecuting political opponents, and attacking Hungary’s pro‑peace position to deflect from internal problems. He called the situation “very sad.”
Hungary’s commitment to peace and rejection of war agitation
Orban reaffirmed that the “historical friendship between Hungary and Poland deserves something better.” He stated he would not support Tusk’s war agitation, argued that Hungary follows a different path – the path of peace – and that the Hungarian nation refuses to become a Brussels vassal. He urged Tusk to accept this and focus on his own affairs.
Tusk reacts to Orban’s comments with threat of imprisonment
In response, Tusk posted on X, “Either in prison or in Budapest,” referring to a meeting between Polish justice minister‑candidate Zbigniew Ziobro and Viktor Orban in Budapest. Tusk’s remark comes after prosecutors requested that parliament lift Ziobro’s parliamentary immunity on 28 October to pursue 26 alleged crimes, including forming and running an organized crime group.
Link between Polish justice fund case and potential political asylum in Hungary
The investigation concerns irregularities in the withdrawal of funds from the Justice Fund, which Ziobro oversaw as justice minister. Some commentators suggested Ziobro might seek political asylum in Hungary, echoing the December 2023 decision to grant asylum to former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski. Romanowski faces 11 charges in the same Justice Fund probe.