Polish foreign minister walks out of interview after question on American-Jewish wife’s ancestry
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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, walked out of a TV interview after the presenter asked a question about whether the ancestry of his Jewish-American wife, journalist and historian Anne Applebaum, would harm his chances as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential elections.
Sikorski later issued a statement condemning the suggestion that Poles are antisemites and calling for the station – American-owned TVN, which is Poland’s largest private broadcaster – to “restore journalistic standards”.
Wyjście Smoka? pic.twitter.com/G8xkWp1KR2
— Grzegorz Kot (@gfkot) November 12, 2024
On Saturday, Sikorski was announced as one of two candidates in a primary election being held by the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), Poland’s main ruling group, to choose a candidate to stand for the presidency.
In an interview on TVN on Tuesday evening, presenter Monika Olejnik, a well-known journalist, asked Sikorski, in the final question of the programme, for his reaction to a newspaper report that “the ancestry of your wife is a problem” according to some members of KO.
“I would say that there is already a secular tradition that the first lady should be a person of Jewish origin,” responded Sikorski. Poland’s current first lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, had a Jewish grandfather. Her predecessor, Anna Komorowska, had a Jewish mother.
After answering, Sikorski was then seen on walking out of the studio while the credits were rolling at the end of the programme, rather than remaining seated, as would normally be the case.
Shortly afterwards, Sikorski then published a tweet saying that “making the origin of a candidate’s wife an issue in the presidential election is unacceptable”.
“Contrary to Ms Olejnik’s insinuations, we are not a country of antisemites,” he continued. “I demand that TVN and Warner Bros./Discovery restore journalistic standards.”
An international study published last year by the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that over a third of people in Poland “harbour antisemitic attitudes”, which was the second highest figure among ten European countries surveyed.
Uważam, że ustawianie pochodzenia żony kandydata jako tematu w wyborach prezydenckich jest niedopuszczalne.
Wbrew insynuacji red. Olejnik nie jesteśmy krajem antysemitów.
Od TVN i Warner Bros./Discovery żądam przywrócenia standardów dziennikarskich.
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) November 12, 2024
TVN is owned by US media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery. The station is generally seen as holding a liberal political position, often aligned with KO.
Sikorski received words of support from his rival in the KO primaries, Trzaskowski, who wrote: “Wife, children, family are sacred. I express support for Anne and Radek [short for Radosław].”
A number of other figures from KO also took to social media to express support for Sikorski and criticism of Olejnik. The present, TVN and Applebaum herself had commented on the issue at the time of writing.
The US ambassador has criticised Poland’s broadcasting regulation for not renewing the licence of a US-owned TV channel.
He says it „undermines the investment climate in Poland” as well as „our common values, bilateral interests and the rule of law” https://t.co/rhc9eFlcxW
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 24, 2024
Applebaum was also the subject of another question put to Sikorski last week during an interview on state broadcaster TVP.
There, the presenter asked the foreign minister if his wife’s strong negative views towards Donald Trump – including accusing him of “speaking like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini” in a recent article in The Atlantic – make it impossible for Sikorski to stand for the presidency following Trump’s election victory.
Sikorski responded by telling the interviewer that a wife is not “an extension of her husband”, and noted that Applebaum is an “outstanding historian and commentator”.
Minister @sikorskiradek: „Żona nie jest przedłużeniem męża” pic.twitter.com/pCkDhEYdbC
— tvp.info 🇵🇱 (@tvp_info) November 7, 2024
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Mateusz Skwarczek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
