Hungary–Poland relations

Hungary–Poland relations are the foreign relations between

Hungary and Poland. Relations between the two nations date Hungarian-Polish relations
back to the Middle Ages. The two Central European peoples
have traditionally enjoyed a very close friendship, brotherhood
and camaraderie rooted in a deep history of shared rulers,
cultures, struggles, and faith. Both countries commemorate their
fraternal relationship on the 23rd of March.

From 1370 to 1382 the Kingdom of Poland and Kingdom of

Hungary entered into a personal union and were ruled by the
same King, Louis the Great. This period in Polish history is
sometimes known as the Andegawen Poland. Louis inherited
the Polish throne from his maternal uncle Casimir III. After
Louis's death the Polish nobles (the szlachta) decided to end the
personal union, since they did not want to be governed from
Hungary, and chose Louis's younger daughter Jadwiga as their
new ruler, while Hungary was inherited by his elder daughter Hungary Poland
Mary. A second personal union with Poland was formed for the
second time from 1440 to 1444, when King Władysław III of
Poland was also King of Hungary.

Both countries are full members of NATO, joining it on the same

day (March 12, 1999) and are also both members of the European
Union, the OECD, the Council of Europe, the Visegrád Four
(along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic), the Bucharest Nine
and the OSCE.
Poland's Law and Justice (PiS)
Polish and Hungarian high-ranking officials usually meet several leader Jarosław Kaczyński with
times a week. The leaders of the two countries have been holding Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor
regular secret meetings to improve bilateral relations and work Orbán[1]
more closely together. Hungarian-Polish political scientist Dominik
Hejj states: “The relations are very strong, and almost every week
a Polish minister visits Hungary and vice versa”. One political expert said the two countries were putting
the European Union on the spot by working towards their own power hub with Brussels “unable to do
anything about it”.

Contents
Country comparison
Historic relations
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Interwar years 1919-1939
World War II
Revolution of 1956
Friendship Day
2016 – Year of Hungarian-Polish solidarity
Resident diplomatic missions
See also
References
Further reading
Other languages
External links

Country comparison
 Hungary Poland
Hungary (Magyarország) Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska)

Flag & Coat

of arms

Population 9,830,485 38,433,600

Area 93,028 km2 (35,919 sq mi) 312,696 km2 (120,733 sq mi)

Population
105.9/km2 (274.3/sq mi) 123/km2 (318.6/sq mi)
Density
Unitary Semi-presidential constitutional
Government Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
republic
Capital
Budapest – 1,759,407 (2,524,697 Metro) Warsaw – 1,764,615 (3,100,844 Metro)
Largest City
Official
Hungarian (de facto and de jure) Polish (de facto and de jure)
language
First Leader Grand Prince Árpád (895–907, traditionally) Duke Mieszko I (960–992, traditionally)
Current Head
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Fidesz; 1998– Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (Law and
of
2002, 2010–present) Justice; 2017–present)
Government
Current Head President Andrzej Duda (Law and Justice;
President János Áder (Fidesz; 2012–present)
of State 2015–present)
38.9% Catholicism (Roman, Greek), 13.8%
Protestantism (Reformed, Evangelical), 0.2% 87.58% Roman Catholic, 7.10% Opting out of
Main
Orthodox, 0.1% Jewish, 1.7% other, 16.7% answer, 1.28% Other faiths, 2.41% Irreligious,
religions
Non-religious, 1.5% Atheism, 27.2% 1.63% Not stated
undeclared
Ethnic 83.7% Hungarian, 3.1% Roma, 1.3% German,
98% Poles, 2% other or undeclared
groups 14.7% not declared
GDP
$132.683 billion, $13,487 per capita $614.190 billion, $16,179 per capita
(nominal)
External
debt $32.600 billion (2012 Q4) – 80 % of GDP $362.000 billion (2017 Q4) – 80 % of GDP
(nominal)

GDP (PPP) $265.037 billion, $29,500 per capita[2] $1.353 trillion, $35,651 per capita[3]
Currency Hungarian forint (Ft) – HUF Polish złoty (zł) – PLN
Human
Development 0.838 (very high) – 2017 0.865 (very high) – 2017
Index

Historic relations
Good relations between Poland and Hungary date back to the Middle Ages. Both countries shared a border
for nearly 800 years, from the 10th century to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The Polish and
Hungarian ruling dynasties (such as the Piast dynasty or House of Árpád) often intermarried. Louis the
Great was king of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and king of Poland from 1370 until his death in 1382.
He was his father's heir, Charles I of the House of Anjou-Sicily
(King of Hungary and Croatia) and his uncle's heir, Casimir III the
Great (king of Poland – last of the Piast dynasty). King Casimir
had no legitimate sons. Apparently, in order to provide a clear line
of succession and avoid dynastic uncertainty, he arranged for his
nephew, King Louis I of Hungary, to be his successor in Poland.
Louis' younger daughter Saint Jadwiga of Poland inherited the
Polish throne, and became one of the most popular monarchs of
Poland. In 1440–1444, the two countries shared the same King
again, after King Władysław III of Poland became also King of
Hungary. He was eventually killed in the Battle of Varna in which
a coalition of Central and Eastern European countries led by
Poland and Hungary was defeated by the Turks. From 1490 to
1526, both countries were ruled by separate but closely related
branches of the Jagiellonian dynasty, after Polish prince
Władysław, son of Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon, became King
Vladislaus II of Hungary. In 1576, Poland elected the Hungarian Stephen Báthory was a member of
nobleman Stephen Báthory as its king, who is regarded as one of the Hungarian Báthory noble family
Poland's greatest rulers. The famous Polish hussars were modelled and was crowned King of Poland
after Hungarian hussars. following his election to the Polish
throne in 1576

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

In the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, a Polish general, Józef Bem, became a national hero of both
Hungary and Poland. He was entrusted with the defence of Transylvania at the end of 1848, and in 1849,
as General of the Székely troops.[4] On October 20, 1848 Józef Wysocki signed an agreement with the
Hungarian government to form a Polish infantry battalion of about 1,200 soldiers. After agreement
Wysocki organized in Hungary "Polish legion" of volunteers contained 2,090 foot soldiers and 400 Polish
uhlans. They took part in the siege of the Arad fortress in the spring of 1849 and participated in all
important battles at Szolnok, Hatvan, Tápió-Bicske and Isaszeg. After the Battle of Temesvár in August
1849, and the Hungarian capitulation at Világos, eight hundred of the remnants of the Legion escaped to
Turkey.[5][6]

Interwar years 1919-1939

Friendship between Poland and Hungary typified the interwar
period. However Poland was among the victors of World War I,
and therefore supported the status quo, while Hungary suffered
unparalleled losses, and therefore pursued a revisionist policy. The
ruling forces in both countries suppressed all revolutionary
movements, and forced the Communist Party underground. As a
result, both were hostile to Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia.
Support for a pro-Hungarian policy in Poland came mainly from
conservative aristocratic centers in Kraków and Wilno. Anti-Czech Polish and Hungarian military officers
feelings led Poland and Hungary to support Hitler during the in Warsaw in 1930
Munich crisis in 1938. However pro-Polish feelings made it
impossible for Hungary to side with Hitler against Poland when it
invaded in 1939.[7]
During the Polish–Soviet War (1919–21), after the Béla Kun government in Hungary was overthrown,
Hungary offered to send 30,000 cavalry to Poland's aid, but the Czechoslovak government refused to allow
them through the demilitarized zone that had existed between Czechoslovakia and Hungary since the end
of the First World War. Nevertheless, Hungarian munitions trains did reach Poland.

In the beginning of July 1920, the Hungarian government of Prime Minister Pál Teleki made a decision to
help Poland, delivering for free and at a critical moment of war at Hungary own expense through
Romania's military supply: 48 million rounds to Mauser, 13 million rounds to Mannlicher, artillery
ammunition, 30 thousands of Mauser rifles and several million spare parts, 440 field kitchens, 80 field
ovens. On August 12, 1920, Skierniewice received transport, among others 22 million rounds to Mauser
from the Manfréd Weiss factory in Csepel. It was the single most important foreign military contribution to
Polish war effort. Hundreds of Hungarian volunteers fought on the side of Poland in the war, and some
stayed in Poland after the war.[8]

From the Middle Ages well into the 20th century, Poland and Hungary had shared a historic common
border. In the aftermath of World War I, the victorious allies had, at Versailles, transferred Upper Hungary
as well as Carpathian Ruthenia, with its Slavic population, from defeated Hungary to Slavic-German-
Hungarian nascent Czechoslovakia. Following the Munich Agreement (September 30, 1938) — which
doomed Czechoslovakia to takeover by Germany — Poland and Hungary, from common as well as their
own special interests, worked together, by diplomatic as well as paramilitary means, to restore their historic
common border by engineering the return of Carpathian Rus to Hungary.[9] A step toward their goal was
realized with the First Vienna Award (November 2, 1938).

Until mid-March 1939, Germany considered that, for military reasons, a

common Hungarian-Polish frontier was undesirable. Indeed, when in March
1939 Hitler made an about-face and authorized Hungary to take over the rest
of Carpatho-Rus (which was by then styling itself "Carpatho-Ukraine"), he
warned Hungary not to touch the remainder of Slovakia, to whose territory
Hungary also laid claim. Hitler meant to use Slovakia as a staging ground for
his planned invasion of Poland. In March 1939, however, Hitler changed his
mind about the common Hungarian-Polish frontier and decided to betray
Germany's ally, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, who had already
in 1938 begun organizing Ukrainian military units in a sich outside Uzhhorod,
in Carpathian Ukraine, under German tutelage — a sich that Polish political
and military authorities saw as an imminent danger to nearby southeastern Grave of a Hungarian
Poland, with its largely Ukrainian population.[10][11] Hitler, however, was Honvéd captain and six
concerned that, if a Ukrainian army organized in Carpathian Rus were to of his men who fell,
accompany German forces invading the Soviet Union, Ukrainian nationalists fighting on the Polish
would insist on the establishment of an independent Ukraine; Hitler, who had side in the 1944 Warsaw
designs on Ukraine's natural and agricultural resources, did not want to deal Uprising
with an independent Ukrainian government.[12]

World War II
Hitler would soon have cause to rue his decision regarding the fate of Carpatho-Ukraine. In six months,
during his 1939 invasion of Poland, the common Polish-Hungarian border would become of major
importance when Admiral Horthy's government, on the ground of long-standing Polish-Hungarian
friendship, declined, as a matter of "Hungarian honor,"[13] Hitler's request to transit German forces across
Carpathian Rus into southeastern Poland to speed that country's conquest. The Hungarian refusal allowed
the Polish government and tens of thousands of military personnel to escape into neighboring Hungary and
Romania, and from there to France and French-mandated Syria to carry on operations as the third-strongest
Allied belligerent after Britain and France. Also, for a time Polish
and British intelligence agents and couriers, including Krystyna
Skarbek, used Hungary's Carpathorus as a route across the
Carpathian Mountains to and from Poland.[14]

Revolution of 1956
A student demonstration in Budapest in support of the Polish
Polish troops withdrawn to Hungary
October and asking for similar reforms in Hungary was one of the
in September 1939
events that sparked the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[15] During
the revolution, Poles demonstrated their support for the Hungarians
by donating blood for them; by 12 November 1956, 11,196 Poles
had donated. The Polish Red Cross sent 44 tons of medical supplies to
Hungary by air; even larger amounts were sent by road and rail.

Friendship Day
On March 12, 2007, Hungary's parliament declared March 23 the "Day of
Hungarian-Polish Friendship", with 324 votes in favor, none opposed, and
no abstentions. Four days later, the Polish parliament declared March 23
the "Day of Polish-Hungarian Friendship" by acclamation.[16]
The old, and famous
Hungarian-Polish
2016 – Year of Hungarian-Polish solidarity Brotherhood

The Hungarian Parliament on 29 February 2016 adopted a decree

in a unanimous vote that declared 2016 a year of Hungarian-Polish
solidarity. Under the order, state celebrations were organized
throughout the year to mark the 60th anniversary of the anti-
communist uprising in Poland's Poznań in June 1956. Hungary's
anti-Soviet revolution was four months later. The decree was
submitted by the House speaker, the Polish minority in Hungary
and the group leaders of the five parliamentary parties. An order
with the same content was adopted by the Polish Senate and by the
Sejm earlier that month.
Standing ovation in the Hungarian
In February 2021, Hungary returned to Poland the Renaissance Parliament after passing into law:
armor of Polish King Sigismund II Augustus, which ended up in 2016 - the Year of Hungarian-Polish
Hungary in the interbellum as a result of a misunderstanding, as it Solidarity
was believed to be the armor of King Louis II of Hungary.[17] The
gesture is perceived as another example of Polish-Hungarian
friendship.[17]

Resident diplomatic missions

Hungary has an embassy in Warsaw, consulates-general in Gdańsk and Kraków and a vice-
consulate in Wrocław,[18]
Poland has an embassy in Budapest.[19]
 Embassy of Consulate-General Embassy of Poland Honorary Consulate
Hungary in Warsaw of Hungary in in Budapest of Hungary in
Kraków Bydgoszcz

See also
Pole and Hungarian brothers be
List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland
List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary
Hungarians in Poland
Poles in Hungary

References
1. "Can Europe's new xenophobes reshape the continent?" (https://www.theguardian.com/worl
d/2018/feb/03/europe-xenophobes-continent-poland-hungary-austria-nationalism-migrants).
The Guardian. 3 February 2018.
2. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html
3. "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects" (https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/
02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=44&pr.y=11&sy=2017&ey=2021&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=cou
ntry&ds=.&br=1&c=964&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=)
. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
4. Kálmán Deresnyi, General Bem's Winter Campaign in Transylvania, 1848-1849 (Hung.),
(Budapest, 1896)
5. Józef Wysocki, "Pamiętnik Jenerała Wysockiego, dowódcy Legionu Polskiego na Węgrzech
z czasu kampanii węgierskiej w roku 1848 i 1849" digital version of Wysocki memoirs (http
s://archive.org/stream/pamitnikjeneraa01wysogoog#page/n6/mode/1up)
6. E. Kozłowski, Legion polski na Węgrzech 1848–1849, Warszawa 1983
7. E. Kovács, "Hungarian—Polish Relations between the Two World Wars." Acta Historica
Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 18.1/2 (1972): 161-169 online (https://www.jstor.org/sta
ble/42554931).
8. "Wsparcie Węgier dla Polski w wojnie polsko-bolszewickiej" (https://www.gov.pl/web/wegry/
wsparcie-wegier-dla-polski-w-wojnie-polsko-bolszewickiej). Portal Gov.pl (in Polish).
Retrieved 3 April 2021.
9. Józef Kasparek, "Poland's 1938 Covert Operations in Ruthenia", East European Quarterly",
vol. XXIII, no. 3 (September 1989), pp. 366-67, 370. Józef Kasparek, Przepust karpacki:
tajna akcja polskiego wywiadu (The Carpathian Bridge: a Covert Polish Intelligence
Operation), p. 11.
10. Józef Kasparek, "Poland's 1938 Covert Operations in Ruthenia", p. 366.
11. On 17 September 1939, pursuant to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union entered
and took control of eastern Poland, including southeastern Poland. That former southeastern
part of Poland now comprises western Ukraine.
12. Józef Kasparek, "Poland's 1938 Covert Operations in Ruthenia", pp. 370-71.
13. Józef Kasparek, "Poland's 1938 Covert Operations in Ruthenia", p. 370.
14. Józef Kasparek, "Poland's 1938 Covert Operations in Ruthenia," pp. 371–73;Józef
Kasparek, Przepust karpacki (The Carpathian Bridge); and Edmund Charaszkiewicz,
"Referat o działaniach dywersyjnych na Rusi Karpackiej" ("Report on Covert Operations in
Carpathian Rus").
15. "United Nations report of the Special Committee on the problem of Hungary" (http://mek.osz
k.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf), Page 145, para 441. Last accessed on 5 August 2012.
16. Uchwała Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 16 marca 2007 r. (http://orka.sejm.gov.pl/pr
oc5.nsf/uchwaly/1499_u.htm) (in Polish)
17. Małgorzata Wosion-Czoba; Karol Kostrzewa. "Renesansowa zbroja młodego Zygmunta II
Augusta trafiła na Wawel" (https://dzieje.pl/dziedzictwo-kulturowe/renesansowa-zbroja-mlod
ego-zygmunta-ii-augusta-trafila-na-wawel). dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
18. Embassy of Hungary in Poland (http://www.mfa.gov.hu/kulkepviselet/PL/HU)
19. Embassy of Poland in Hungary (http://www.budapeszt.msz.gov.pl/hu/root)

Further reading
Józef Kasparek, "Poland's 1938 Covert Operations in Ruthenia", East European Quarterly",
vol. XXIII, no. 3 (September 1989), pp. 365–73.1
Kovács, E. "Hungarian—Polish Relations between the Two World Wars." Acta Historica
Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 18.1/2 (1972): 161-169 online (https://www.jstor.org/sta
ble/42554931).

Other languages
Józef Kasparek, Przepust karpacki: tajna akcja polskiego wywiadu (The Carpathian Bridge:
a Covert Polish Intelligence Operation), Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek
Technicznych SIGMA NOT, 1992, ISBN 83-85001-96-4.
Edmund Charaszkiewicz, "Referat o działaniach dywersyjnych na Rusi Karpackiej" ("Report
on Covert Operations in Carpathian Rus"), in Zbiór dokumentów ppłk. Edmunda
Charaszkiewicza (Collection of Documents by Lt. Col. Edmund Charaszkiewicz),
opracowanie, wstęp i przypisy (edited, with introduction and notes by) Andrzej Grzywacz,
Marcin Kwiecień, Grzegorz Mazur, Kraków, Księgarnia Akademicka, 2000, ISBN 83-7188-
449-4, pp. 106–30.

External links
Hungarian embassy in Warsaw (in Hungarian and Polish only) (http://www.mfa.gov.hu/kulke
pviselet/PL/HU)
Polish embassy in Budapest (in Hungarian and Polish only) (https://web.archive.org/web/20
081101141635/http://www.budapeszt.polemb.net/)

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