In his laudation delivered during the Polish-Hungarian Forum in Krasiczyn the Director of the Institute, Maciej Szymanowski, PhD, emphasized that the decision of the Council of the Institute was made unanimously because Marek Kuchciński had been involved in popularization and deepening of the Polish-Hungarian relations already as a journalist and publisher of numerous magazines and periodicals, including those distributed outside the communist censorship and the eye of the SB, as an animator of the cultural events both before and after 1989; co-founder and organizer of the Carpathian Europe project, Speaker of the 8th Sejm, during which the law on the establishment of Felczak Institute, resolutions commemorating Henryk Sławik or help for Polish refugees given by Hungarians in 1939 were passed in record time.
The intensity of the contacts between the Speaker of the Sejm of the 8th term Marek Kuchciński and the President of the Hungarian Parliament László Kövér at the level of parliamentary diplomacy has made the fraternity between the two countries gain real strength in international politics. Marek Kuchciński in 2017 led to the signing of a strategic partnership agreement, providing, among other things, for enhanced parliamentary cooperation between Poland and Hungary. For in today's foreign policy, building a strong position in the world requires the ability to create alliances on many levels. Modern diplomacy means not only contacts between presidents, government representatives and legislators. Dozens of meetings, hundreds of hours of talks, many joint projects and arrangements. The dimension of these relations is not only symbolic, but above all practical, as the common voice of Poland and Hungary, as well as of the entire Visegrad Group, has started to sound louder and louder, making it easier to convince the European Union of our values and vision.
- Polish-Hungarian relations are a phenomenon. Our cooperation is noncommittal but effective," Kuchciński stressed. According to the Marshal, we are both messengers and creative continuators of a great cause that began a thousand years ago. We continue the work and traditions of ancient dynasties - the Piasts, the Arpads, the Andegawens, the Jagiellons and the Batory family. We are the heirs of our compatriots from the period of the Spring of Nations and the interwar cooperation between the Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of Hungary as well as Poles and Hungarians helping each other during World War II and in 1956.
The Marshal's work on strengthening relations between Poland and Hungary was appreciated by President János Áder, who in 2018 awarded Marek Kuchcinski with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary.
In the 9th term of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski serves as Chairman of the Polish-Hungarian Parliamentary Group and the Sejm Foreign Affairs Committee.
