Hungarian PM Orban in Warsaw

Polish PM Ewa Kopacz has appealed to her Hungarian counterpart not to forget Western participation in the two countries’ histories, during a meeting in the Polish capital on Thursday.

“The unity of the Visegrad Group and condemnation of aggression is fundamental,” Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz told a press conference following a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

“In a frank and difficult conversation, the kind which friends usually have – when you talk your mind looking straight into someone’s eyes – I told Prime Minister Orban that the unity of the European Union countries and the Visegrad Group is of paramount importance to the situation in Ukraine,” Kopacz said.

“I believe that a great European nation, such as Ukrainian, also has the right to decide about its own destiny. In our common history, Poland and Hungary always lost when in international politics, rights were substituted with power,” Kopacz said.

“I am convinced that countries such as ours, which, thanks to the help from foreign [powers], thanks to the support of Western democracies became independent 25 years ago. Now [our countries have a chance] to help those who are denied the right to independence,” she added.

PM Orban travelled to Warsaw on Thursday following a meeting on Tuesday with Russian President Valdimir Putin. The leaders discussed a gas deal between the two countries.

The meeting was seen by observers as a move by the EU member to strengthen ties with Russia at a time of cooling diplomatic relations between the EU and Moscow. Tuesday’s visit was the first official visit by President Putin in the EU since June 2014.