Péter Magyar, Hungary's newly elected prime minister, has announced plans to cultivate a "special relationship" with Polish counterpart Donald Tusk as he seeks to repair Budapest's fractured ties with the European Union following 16 years of Viktor Orbán's rule. Magyar has chosen Warsaw as the destination for his first official foreign trip and moved swiftly to signal a break with the Orbán era, including pledging to expel two former Polish ministers who had been sheltering in Budapest from prosecution. The partnership carries practical urgency: Hungary must meet EU reform benchmarks by the end of August to unlock an initial €10.4 billion tranche of frozen funds, and Polish officials — drawing on their own experience of reversing democratic backsliding after the Law and Justice government lost power in 2023 — have warned that "promises will not be enough" and that tangible institutional changes must follow quickly.