Poland summons French ambassador over Macron comments

Poland said it had called in the French ambassador to Warsaw Friday after French President Emmanuel Macron insulted the Polish prime minister in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper.

In the interview, Macron said that Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is "a far-right anti-Semite who bans LGBT people."

Macron made the comments ahead of Sunday's French presidential election in what is one of comparatively few diplomatic spats between EU nations since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina wrote on Twitter, "As a result of assertions by the French president in an interview with Le Parisien, Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau decided to summon the French ambassador." 

Why is Macron insulting Morawiecki?

Morawiecki has been critical of Macron's decision to hold numerous phone calls with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Macron said, "I take full responsibility for having spoken to the president of Russia, in the name of France, to avoid the war and to build a new architecture for peace in Europe several years ago."

What else has Morawiecki said about Macron's calls to Putin?

On Monday, Morawiecki addressed Macron while speaking to reporters, asking, "How many times have you negotiated with Putin and what have you achieved?"

Morawiecki added, "We do not discuss, we do not negotiate with criminals. Criminals have to be fought against."

He also asserted incorrectly, "Nobody negotiated with Hitler. Would you negotiate with Hitler, with Stalin, with Pol Pot?"

Before the interview with Le Parisien, Macron told TF1 that Morawiecki's remarks were "baseless and scandalous." Macron then added that Morawiecki belonged to a "far-right party" that was "supporting" his main election rival Marine Le Pen.

Why is Macron making such pointed remarks about Morawiecki now?

French voters go to the poll Sunday to cast their ballots for one of 12 candidates in the first round of the French election.

While Macron remains the favorite, he is looking to separate himself from Marine Le Pen, his likely challenger on the far-right whose party has been backed financially by Putin.

Although Le Pen has sought to dodge the topic of Putin, Russia and the war in Ukraine as much as possible in the campaign, possibly in a bid to win over supporters of more Russia-friendly far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, she has focused heavily on the cost of living issues in Europe that have been exacerbated by the conflict.

Le Pen also recently met with Morawiecki, kicking off a scandal in Poland as she is seen as aligned with Russia.

ar/msh (AFP, AP)