Poland Not to Invite Hungarian Prime Minister, Ambassador to EU Presidency Ceremony

Poland has decided not to invite Hungarian Ambassador and Prime Minister Viktor Orban to an event on Friday to mark the start of the country's presidency of the European Union, RFM 24 and Wiadomosci report.

According to Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, Poland's deputy minister for European affairs, the reason was that Hungary had granted asylum to Marcin Romanowski, a member of the former Law and Justice ruling party.

Sobkowiak-Czarnecka noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was also not invited to the ceremony, which will take place at the Bolshoi Theatre in Warsaw.

‘When we invited guests to our event almost a month ago, we invited the entire diplomatic corps. But after the situation with Romanowski, Minister (of Foreign Affairs) Sikorski decided that the Hungarian ambassador is not a welcome guest at the theatre today,’ she said.

During the ceremony, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Council President Antonio Costa are scheduled to deliver speeches.

Marcin Romanowski, who was Poland's deputy justice minister, was detained in July 2024 as part of an investigation into possible mismanagement of funds in the Justice Fund. Romanowski disappeared in early December after allegedly receiving medical treatment.

However, on the day the district court in Warsaw issued a European arrest warrant for the former Polish official, it became known that he was under the protection of the Hungarian authorities.