(Bloomberg) -- Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the “selfishness” of Hungary’s leader in dealing with European Union partners has left the country isolated and weakened, the latest sign of a widening diplomatic rift.
In an interview with the online magazine Visegrad Insight, Sikorski said “Hungary didn’t have support for its position” when it sought the EU’s help last week to broker a solution with Ukraine over halted Russian oil supplies. Kyiv effectively barred transit of crude from Lukoil PJSC, potentially exposing Hungary to fuel shortages as early as September.
“They appear isolated when it is they who are asking for solidarity from Europe on the issue of oil supplies,” Sikorski said in the interview published Monday. “They don’t receive this solidarity because it’s difficult to win friends if someone exudes selfishness.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has reveled in his role as a disruptor in Europe, holding up the EU’s budget, blocking aid for Ukraine and regularly suggesting life outside the EU might be better.
Orban, who maintains close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, antagonized Ukraine with a self-styled “peace mission” from Moscow to Beijing and Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago this month.
His diplomatic efforts during Hungary’s six-month EU presidency have angered other member states and NATO allies, who said he had no mandate on negotiate on their behalf.
“I don’t see how this Hungarian symmetry – situating itself between Moscow and Brussels – increases Hungary’s leverage,” Sikorski said. “Instead, it irritates everyone else.”
Speaking at an annual retreat in Baile Tusnad, Romania, on Saturday, Orban offered a vision of a new world order, with backing from China and Trump’s potential return to the White House. He accused Poland of conducting business with Russia through intermediaries.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski denied the claim Saturday and suggested Hungary leave the EU. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine as Poland became one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters.
--With assistance from Andras Gergely.
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