Law and Justice (PiS) MPs plan to submit an interpellation to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, demanding that Poland call on the European Union to recognize Antifa as a terrorist organization. The initiative was announced by MP Dariusz Matecki during a Wednesday press conference in the Sejm.
As justification for their initiative, PiS politicians cited the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot on September 10 during a debate at Utah Valley University. At the conference, former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro presented the details.
“Kirk’s killer, Tyler Robinson, identified with LGBT activists,” said Ziobro, suggesting a political motive behind the crime. The former head of the Ministry of Justice emphasized that PiS wants “to oppose leftist tendencies and demands to impose their own, in this case leftist, left-wing views through state violence or physical violence.”
Poland following the example of the USA and Hungary?
Matecki pointed to international precedents as an argument for Polish action. “We demand that we move in the same direction as the United States, as Hungary, so that Poland brings a motion before the European Union to recognize Antifa as a terrorist organization,” stressed the PiS politician.
Indeed, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing the anti-fascist movement as a “domestic terrorist organization.” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced a similar decision, accusing Antifa of violence against “peacefully minded people.” During the conference, Ziobro also announced that the PiS parliamentary club would return to a civic bill amending the criminal code “on the defense of Christians.” This bill, which proposed criminal penalties for, among other things, desecrating the cross and other Christian symbols, was rejected by the Sejm in April 2024.
“We will continue to fight for the protection of Christian values in Poland,” declared the former Minister of Justice.
The PiS interpellation to Prime Minister Tusk will serve as a test of the government’s stance on this issue. The ruling coalition will be forced to take a position on a matter that could become another point of contention between the government camp and the opposition. Will Poland follow in the footsteps of the USA and Hungary? We await the government’s reaction to the demands put forward by Law and Justice.