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Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s governing party, accused the German ambassador to Poland of self-delusion regarding the nation’s need to pay billions for Russian energy.
On Wednesday, Thomas Bagger, the German ambassador, responded to claims by the Polish defence minister that “undoubtedly, it was German policy that made it possible for Putin to get money for his armed forces.”
“Minister, do you know how many billions of zlotys Poland transferred to Moscow every year in exchange for Russian energy?” Bagger tweeted.
Kaczyński, who is the head of the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, declared to TVPInfo on Thursday that the German ambassador was “lying to himself in a very ugly way.”
Kaczyński contended that Poland had been overly reliant on Russian energy due to its involvement in the communist bloc, and even after transitioning to democracy in 1989, “the post-communist powers remained in control for the majority of the first dozen years or so.”
Kaczyński stated that it was PiS that took the matter of energy autonomy seriously.
“Before that, decisions were made by parties that used to be very much liked in Germany, and the ambassador should be reminded of this,” he said.
The PiS has been critical of the Civic Platform, which held positions of power from 2007 to 2015, and has accused them of prioritizing the desires of Germany over the nation’s interests and not being loyal to their country.