German media outlets have already begun commenting on the decision announced by Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński. One Berlin-based newspaper described the party’s candidate for future prime minister, Przemysław Czarnek, as a “right-wing radical.”
On Saturday, during a convention held at the “Sokół” Polish Gymnastic Society in Kraków, the leader of Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, announced that Przemysław Czarnek would be the party’s candidate for prime minister in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The potential future head of government stated directly that his party is now boarding a “Polish high-speed train,” which will have room for everyone from his political camp. There will be no divisions into factions or political colors — provided that an agreement can be reached.
Czarnek speaks of an “openly pro-German option.” German media react
During the speech by PiS’s candidate for future prime minister, a number of strong claims were made, including criticism of Donald Tusk’s government.
“Today there is no longer a concealed German option. It has shamelessly turned into an openly pro-German option that now governs. This openly pro-German option is being opposed today by President Karol Nawrocki, who came out of the same Sokół Hall, and he is saving Poland. (…) Poland today is tired of being suffocated by the openly pro-German option that governs the Republic. Poland is tired of powerlessness. The first example — for how many days did we demand that the government organize help for Poles who were left in the war zone in the Middle East? Tusk and Sikorski laughed at us, saying we had invented planes. What did the Czech Republic do in the meantime? It went to get its citizens. And what did Poles hear? They heard: ‘Handle it yourselves,’” Czarnek said.
These remarks sparked widespread reactions in the public sphere. The coverage has reached German media as well, which are writing about PiS’s candidate for prime minister in a critical tone. According to their assessment, Jarosław Kaczyński’s decision is meant to help the party gain support from voters associated with both factions of the Confederation movement.
“PiS’s poll numbers are poor. Nevertheless, the still-influential party leader Jarosław Kaczyński wants to win the parliamentary elections in 2027. Apparently he intends to achieve this by gaining support from far-right parties,” reads an article in the German daily Tagesspiegel.
The Berlin-published newspaper writes that “Czarnek is considered a right-wing radical,” while recalling his past statements about the LGBT community.
Moreover, Germany’s public television network ARD accused Przemysław Czarnek of homophobia, hostility toward women and… “spreading conspiracy theories according to which Donald Tusk’s government is controlled by Berlin.”
The broadcaster also highlighted his strong criticism of the Green Deal, his defense of Poland’s coal industry, and what it described as anti-German themes appearing in his speech in Kraków. ARD cited one line from Czarnek’s remarks: “We want to be a partner, not a servant or a slave.”
Kamiński: a furious attack
Mariusz Kamiński, a PiS Member of the European Parliament, responded to the German newspaper’s publication on social media.
“German media are already focusing on Przemysław Czarnek’s candidacy for Prime Minister of Poland. A furious attack is just beginning. Berlin will defend, at all costs, the political arrangement in Poland that is favorable to Germany’s interests,” he wrote on X.