HOW DID POLAND BECOME HUNGARY’S THIRD-LARGEST IMPORT PARTNER?

Thirty-five years ago, following the fall of communism, the leaders of Poland, Hungary and what was then Czechoslovakia declared in Visegrád that their countries intended to return together to the mainstream of European economic as well as political life. Their foremost task at the time was to lay the foundations of a market economy. On 6 October 2026, it will be thirty-five years since Hungary and Poland signed the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourly Cooperation in Kraków. 

The two countries agreed to strengthen direct ties between businesses, make it easier for goods to cross borders and improve transport links. At the same time, the Visegrád countries also agreed to establish a free trade area, paving the way for the Central European Free Trade Agreement, CEFTA, signed the following year. The Visegrád countries have since become an integral part of the European Union’s economy. Access to the common market through EU integration also boosted trade among them. Czechia, Slovakia and Poland are now among Hungary’s most important trading partners. Freedom has thus strengthened both Hungarian–Polish relations and Visegrád cooperation through trade within the region. 

The anniversary offers the Hungarian–Polish Institute of Freedom an opportunity to examine how Poland’s role in Hungary’s imports has grown since then, and how Polish products have become part of everyday life in Hungary. Alongside trade statistics, particular attention is given to Polish brands that Hungarian consumers encounter on supermarket shelves, in pharmacies or when furnishing their homes.