The president has been critical of Viktor Orbán’s actions regarding Ukraine and his stance toward the authorities of the Russian Federation and the war criminal Vladimir Putin. […] Those in power ignore this, because they want to use the president’s meetings to cover up their own image crisis that has emerged in recent days,” said Rafał Leśkiewicz, spokesperson for President Karol Nawrocki, responding to a series of attacks against the head of state.
President of Poland Karol Nawrocki met on Monday in Przemyśl with the President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok. During the celebrations of the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day, Nawrocki emphasized that the mission of both presidents is to ensure that Polish-Hungarian friendship “does not become subject to short-term political turbulence.” After the presidents of Poland and Hungary delivered their statements, a TVN television crew intervened with questions suggesting alleged pro-Russian sympathies on the part of the Polish president. This was followed by a broader narrative from the government.
Rafał Leśkiewicz addressed the attacks on President Nawrocki today on Telewizja Republika.
“The president met with the Hungarian president and prime minister because yesterday we celebrated Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day. It is worth reminding the government that for 19 years, on March 23, we have been marking this holiday. It is a good opportunity during such meetings to discuss many serious matters—those related to the Three Seas Initiative, the Bucharest Nine, the Visegrád Group, as well as other economic and political issues. Poland maintains significant trade exchange with Hungary, we share similar positions on the ETS, and we are also countries defending NATO’s eastern flank. Poland and Hungary are countries that should cooperate at the political level,” he said.
Leśkiewicz stressed that “this of course does not change the fact that the president has been critical of Viktor Orbán’s actions regarding Ukraine and his approach to the authorities of the Russian Federation and the war criminal Vladimir Putin.” “This was clearly expressed during President Karol Nawrocki’s official speech in Przemyśl,” he added.
He continued: “Those in power fail to acknowledge this, because they want to use the president’s meetings to cover up their own image crisis that has emerged in recent days.”
“We are talking about the zoophilia-pedophilia scandal in Kłodzko, we are talking about the case of Roman Giertych, we are talking about a serious crisis in the healthcare system and cuts to further medical services, we are talking about a growing deficit, we are talking about lower tax collection,” he listed.
“What is Prime Minister Donald Tusk doing in this situation? He has decided to extinguish the fire by attacking President Karol Nawrocki, who is pursuing a normal policy of cooperation with partners in the European Union. One of those partners is Hungary. The president clearly stated that we have much in common with Hungary, but there are also issues that divide us,” Leśkiewicz reiterated.
“Prime Minister Tusk is the most pro-Russian prime minister of the Polish government after 1989. One can recall the reset policy, how he patted Putin on the back on the Sopot pier, what happened after the Smolensk disaster. It is clear that the prime minister is running out of arguments.”
“What is ironic in all this is that the prime minister himself met with Prime Minister Orbán many times, including just a few months ago. Orbán belonged to the European People’s Party—the same group to which members of Civic Platform belonged. The prime minister seems to have forgotten this. And I will say this: it is good that we had those relations, and it is good that we have them now,” the presidential spokesperson concluded.