Russia's invasion of Ukraine has weakened the political alliance between the nationalist governments in Poland and Hungary. For years, this alliance has been a thorn in the European Union's side. Warsaw and Budapest criticized the process of European integration and blocked reforms on issues like immigration, while increasing oversight over their respective judiciaries and cracking down on critical media. Their alliance highlighted the differences in political values between countries in Western and Central Europe, exposing EU institutional limitations to implementing policy and punishing member states that refused to adhere to Brussels' rules.
