Hungary’s Orban lauds MAGA advance after Nawrocki’s win in Poland

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BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that nationalist Karol Nawrocki’s victory in Poland’s presidential election was “fantastically good”, hailing the success of an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Eurosceptic Karol Nawrocki narrowly won the Polish presidential election on Sunday, delivering a big blow to the efforts of Donald Tusk’s centrist government to cement Warsaw’s pro-European orientation.

“From a Hungarian perspective, I think the outcome is fantastically good, as there is a pro-Ukrainian, pro-war, pro-Brussels liberal government operating in Poland,” Orban said in an interview on state Kossuth radio.

Orban, also an ally of Trump, said he interpreted Nawrocki’s victory as the “continuation of the patriot’s advance.”

“One could also say that the ‘Washington Express’ has arrived in Warsaw,” Orban said, alluding to Nawrocki’s election as a victory for European conservatives inspired by Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

Both Tusk’s government and its conservative nationalist predecessor have been staunch supporters of Ukraine in the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion and have been critical of Orban’s tilt towards Moscow.

Nawrocki has said Poland must continue to support Kyiv’s war effort, but in a break with the policy of previous governments in Warsaw, he opposes NATO membership for Ukraine.

For his part, Orban has refused to send weapons to Ukraine since the start of the war and kept close relations with Moscow.

Orban publicly endorsed Nawrocki ahead of the second round of Poland’s election.

(Reporting by Anita Komuves; editing by Mark Heinrich)