Tusk Criticizes Poles Backing AfD: ‘Idiots or Traitors’

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has sharply criticized Polish citizens who celebrate the gains of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), declaring that only “idiots or traitors” could welcome the party’s electoral success.

Responding to the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt, Tusk wrote that in Poland only “idiots or traitors” could rejoice at the party’s triumph in Germany. He linked such support to domestic opposition forces, saying AfD sympathizers could be found among the ranks of the nationalist Confederacja party and the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Tusk’s comments reflect Warsaw’s deep concern over the rise of far-right politics in neighboring Germany and its determination to use that issue against political opponents at home. By associating PiS and Confederacja with the AfD, the prime minister is escalating a rhetorical battle that could shape Poland’s internal political discourse as parties jockey for position.

The AfD has campaigned on nationalist, anti-immigration and anti-European Union themes and has drawn strong support in Germany’s eastern states, making its gains a sensitive subject across the region.