Sikorski says Orbán has earned his Order of Lenin, Szijjártó retorts by accusing Sikorski of being pro-war

The Polish and Hungarian foreign ministers took to the internet over the weekend to mutually accuse each other of being pro-war. The debate was sparked by a post shared by Viktor Orbán on X, in which the Hungarian Prime Minister expressed his opinion that if the leaders of the European Union (Orbán used the term "the Brusselians") took steps to seize frozen Russian assets, it would be equivalent to a declaration of war. He also spoke about this in an interview.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski shared Viktor Orbán's post with the following scathing comment: “Viktor has earned his Order of Lenin.”

The Order of Lenin was the highest Soviet decoration, awarded to Soviet and foreign citizens for both civil and military merits. Among others, János Kádár, who led Hungary during communism for 32 years was also honoured with this decoration.

The Hungarian response to Sikorski's post was not long in coming. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó responded harshly to his colleague with a post of his own, in which he wrote: We understand you really want a Russia vs. Europe war! We will not let ourselves be dragged into your war!!

Sikorski responded to this in a comment below the post, saying: “Unless Russia invades again there won’t be such a war but we understand that this time you would be on her side.”

This is not the first time Sikorski and Szijjártó have clashed: "Looks like you're playing for the other team, Peter," the Polish Foreign Minister wrote in response to a photo showing Péter Szijjártó marching alongside North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing earlier this year.

The Hungarian and Polish governments have not been on good terms since Donald Tusk came to power, with their relationship characterised by constant back-and-forth exchanges. A heated exchange also broke out between the two countries' foreign ministers prior to the Beijing parade, when Szijjártó posted on X about the Ukrainian's attack on the Friendship Pipeline.