The two Central European people have traditionally enjoyed a very close friendship, brotherhood and camaraderie rooted in a deep history of shared rulers, cultures, struggles, and faith.

Hungarian-Polish political scientist Dominik Hejj states: "The relations are very strong, and almost every week a Polish minister visits Hungary and vice versa".

Since the mid-13th century, trade between Hungary and Poland has increased significantly, as well as the transit of Hungarian goods through Poland to Baltic ports and German countries, and foreign (Flemish, English, German) products in the opposite direction, reaching its peak during the Hungarian-Polish union under the reign of Louis I.

[2] In 1320 King Charles I of Hungary married Princess Elizabeth of Poland and a Hungarian–Polish alliance was formed,[3] which benefited both countries.

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.

[5] Hungarians and Poles fought together against the Ottoman invasion of Europe at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 as part of a larger European coalition led by King Sigismund 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.

The great Hungarian Renaissance poet Bálint Balassi spent parts of his life and wrote some of his poems in Poland.

[11] The Hungarians maintained close contact with Poland, both through correspondence and their envoys, and also thanks to the numerous visits of Poles at Rákóczi's court in Szentmiklós in 1707–1710.

[14] Rákóczi then lived in Jarosław and Gdańsk before leaving Poland in 1712 for France, where he unsuccessfully sought support for Hungarian national liberation efforts.

There were cases of Hungarians, who in small groups or individually, made their way to the Russian Partition of Poland to help the Polish November Uprising of 1830–1831.

"[16] Among the founding members of the committee was Charles Kraitsir, a Hungarian-born doctor decorated with the Order of Virtuti Militari for his services in the November Uprising, who spent the rest of his life as part of the Polish Great Emigration.

[19] On October 20, 1848 Józef Wysocki signed an agreement with the Hungarian government to form a Polish infantry battalion of about 1,200 soldiers.

They took part in the siege of the Arad fortress in the spring of 1849 and participated in all important battles at Szolnok, Hatvan, Tápióbicske and Isaszeg.

[22] In Paris, György Klapka, Ludwik Mierosławski and Giuseppe Garibaldi decided that Hungarian and Italian revolutionaries would help in the event of a Polish uprising.

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.

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,"[36] Hitler's request to transit German forces across Carpathian Rus into southeastern Poland to speed up that country's conquest.

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.

[39] The Institute was a place where Polish culture was freely and legally cultivated at a time when it was brutally suppressed in German- and Soviet-occupied Poland and Europe.

[43] Captured Polish insurgents were bandaged and fed by Hungarians, then released, given weapons and food, and shown the way out of German encirclement.

[45] A student demonstration in Budapest in support of the Polish October and asking for similar reforms in Hungary was one of the events that sparked the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

The Polish Red Cross sent 44 tons of medical supplies to Hungary by air; even larger amounts were sent by road and rail.

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.

[64] Many attribute these actions as Viktor Orbán attempting to appease the Kremlin, since it has been long seen that he is President Putin's frontman in Europe.

Relations so far have come to an impasse, with the Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki stating "The paths of Poland and Hungary have diverged" in the summer of 2022.

In a recent poll by CBOS, the popularity of Hungarians among Poles has plummeted by 21 per cent and is at its lowest level for 30 years, just hovering above that for the Germans.

During the summer of 2024, Viktor Orbán gave a speech in which he criticized the West, praised Russia, and accused Poland of “hypocrisy” for “morally lecturing” Hungary over relations with Moscow while continuing to buy Russian oil.

[67] Escalating tensions further, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó shot back at Bartoszewski on Facebook by saying: “For a long time we tolerated the provocations and hypocrisy of the current Polish government with the intention of preserving the Polish-Hungarian brotherhood, but we have had enough”.

[68] On 20 December 2024, Hungary granted asylum to former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski, who had been charged with corruption in Poland.

This led to Poland's foreign ministry describing the decision as "offensive to Polish citizens and authorities" and indefinitely recalling its Ambassador to Hungary.