Kaczyński publicly rebukes PiS PM candidate Czarnek over Ukraine aid freeze call, pledges party probe

What Czarnek said

On 13 July, PiS prime ministerial candidate Przemysław Czarnek told TV Republika that Poland should use its position in the EU and NATO to force Ukraine to change its policy toward Warsaw. His central demand was to stop EU funding for Ukraine's armaments and reconstruction. Czarnek called for the bloc to 'cease, at this moment, any financing of armaments in Ukraine and the reconstruction of Ukraine, until Ukraine enters the path of pro-human values.' He also accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of 'glorifying genocidal ideology,' framing it as a mortal threat to future generations.

Kaczyński's response

Within 24 hours, PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński posted a rebuttal on X. 'Law and Justice stands, and has always stood, on the position that military aid, also implemented by the EU for Ukraine, is absolutely necessary,' he wrote. 'This is a key matter from the point of view of Poland's national interest and our security.' Kaczyński added that 'the matter of Mr. Przemysław Czarnek's statement will be clarified by the party leadership.' The post stopped short of stripping Czarnek of the candidacy but drew a sharp line between the party line and its own frontman's position.

The matter of Mr. Przemysław Czarnek's statement will be clarified by the party leadership.

Government reaction

Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued two responses. During a press conference in Paris he called Czarnek's words 'idiotic' and described the stance as 'murderous policy,' then posted on social media that 'Russia could not have dreamed of a better candidate for prime minister than Czarnek.' Defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the remarks endangered Polish and European security, noting that the war has not stopped: 'Bombs are still falling, ballistic missiles are hitting Kyiv, people are dying, the Russian Federation is making progress and is no weaker than at the start of the war.' He diagnosed the PiS shift as a race to out-radicalise Confederation MP Grzegorz Braun, warning that the party 'has already become Braun' and will lose its remaining credibility.

Russia could not have dreamed of a better candidate for prime minister than Czarnek.

What Mr. Czarnek is saying, the nonsense he's spouting, that the European Union should withhold support for fighting Ukraine, is very dangerous. It threatens the security of the Polish state and all of Europe.

Opposition and coalition reactions

Confederation co-leader Sławomir Mentzen said the episode vindicated his long-standing position that Czarnek is unfit for the premiership. 'How would a government work where the prime minister makes a decision and then it turns out it will be different because the prime minister forgot to ask the chairman for permission?' Mentzen wrote. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka quipped that Czarnek's real boss is Grzegorz Braun, while interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak urged Kaczyński to expel Czarnek from PiS: 'If chairman Kaczyński really believes that Czarnek, speaking the Kremlin's language, acts against Poland's national interest, then let him immediately throw him out of PiS. They knew what they were getting into!' Union of Centrum MP Sławomir Ćwik accused Czarnek of parroting a pro-Russian narrative and placed him closer to Braun politically than to his own party leadership.

Czarnek has no decision-making power, he is not an independent politician. He cannot be prime minister. With him you can at most decide whether it's white or red wine.

Tensions over history and EU accession

Czarnek's remarks coincided with a PiS parliamentary group submitting a draft resolution opposing Ukraine's EU membership, citing Kyiv's glorification of the perpetrators of the Volhynia massacre. The resolution calls on the government to block further accession steps. The trigger was President Zelensky naming a Ukrainian military unit after UPA Heroes in late May, a move criticised by Tusk, Kosiniak-Kamysz, the foreign ministry, and President Nawrocki on 19 June. The resolution and Czarnek's TV appearance together signal an escalation of PiS's linkage between historical grievances and its stance on military and financial support for Ukraine.