WARSAW, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The Polish Foreign Ministry has summoned the Hungarian ambassador after Budapest granted asylum to two as-yet-unidentified Polish citizens, a spokesperson said on Friday, as relations deteriorate between countries once seen as allies.
News website VSquare reported on Thursday that Budapest’s delegation in Brussels had sent a letter to other countries’ representatives saying it had granted asylum to two Polish citizens. The letter, which was subsequently published in Polish media, did not identify the two Poles or explain why they were given asylum.
Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewior said Warsaw would notify the ambassador of its “objection to this decision”. The Hungarian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In 2024, Hungary angered Poland by giving asylum to Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister from Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS) government, which lost power in 2023. Polish prosecutors accuse Romanowski of misusing public funds, which he denies.
In November, former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, a key PiS figure, chose to remain in Budapest after Poland’s parliament voted to strip him of immunity so he could face charges relating to misuse of public funds. Polish media have speculated that Ziobro too could seek asylum in Hungary.
RELATIONS SOUR BETWEEN FORMER ALLIES
Hungary’s self-styled “illiberal” Prime Minister Viktor Orban was an ally of Poland’s government when the PiS was in power, although Orban’s decision to maintain warm ties with Moscow after the Russian invasion of Ukraine strained relations with Warsaw even before PiS left office.
Since a pro-European coalition led by centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to office in Poland in 2023, tensions have grown further. Tusk’s government has vowed to hold PiS figures accused of wrongdoing to account. Budapest says Warsaw is persecuting political opponents.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw, Anita Komuves in BudapestEditing by Peter Graff)
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