Poland has summoned the French ambassador after Emmanuel Macron called the country’s prime minister a “far-right anti-Semite”.
The comments come after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki compared the French president’s telephone conversations with Vladimir Putin to talks with Hitler.
Mr Macron is in the run-up to the French presidential election – where his main rival is far-right candidate Marin Le Pen – and Poland has accused him of blazing the campaign.
The controversy escalated when Macron told Le Parisien on Thursday that Moravetsky was “an extreme right-wing anti-Semite who bans LGBT people.” He also claims that the Polish Prime Minister tried to help Ms. Le Pen.
Image: Mateusz Morawiecki criticizes Macron for talking to President Putin
A spokesman for the Polish government said it was a “lie” that Mr Morawiecki was anti-Semitic.
Although President Macron did not elaborate on his claim, Mr Morawiecki sparked controversy in 2018 when he said there were “Jewish perpetrators” of the Holocaust.
His government also introduced a law that punishes people who blame Poles for the Nazi crimes of the Holocaust.
Another law effectively blocked the restitution of property that was owned by Holocaust victims and later confiscated by the state.
Anti-Semitism is a particularly sensitive topic in Poland, as Hitler used the country to kill millions of Jews and others in famous death camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka and Belzec.
Poland has accepted the largest number of refugees from the war in Ukraine, and Mr Morawiecki earlier this week criticized Macron’s diplomatic efforts – which include several calls to Vladimir Putin, although other Western leaders have avoided him.
“President Macron, how many times have you negotiated with Putin? What did you achieve? … Would you negotiate with Hitler, with Stalin, with Pol Pot? ”He told a news conference on Monday.
He also slapped the German chancellor by name, saying: “Chancellor Scholz, Olaf, the voices of German business should not be heard in Berlin today. It is the voice of these innocent women and children.”
Image: Marine Le Pen is a real contender in the French election this time, according to opinion polls
In France, Macron looks set to face Marine Le Pen in two weeks in a second round that pit the two most popular candidates against each other.
Macron, 44, defeated Ms. Le Pen in 2017 to become France’s youngest president, but this time the race looks much closer.
If she wins, Ms. Le Pen will become the country’s first female president, while Macron’s victory will make him the first president in 20 years to win a second term.
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