“Tusk has brought in reinforcements” – right-wing politicians complain about the Bundeswehr in Warsaw

Excitement in the neighboring country: In Poland, right-wing politicians are outraged by the presence of German soldiers and military vehicles, which can currently be seen in large numbers in Warsaw and on the streets.

The right-wing MP Konrad Berkowicz, among others, posted a video of Bundeswehr soldiers on X. He wrote: "This is Warsaw - and the Bundeswehr on its streets. Donald Tusk has brought reinforcements here from Germany." The video, which shows Bundeswehr vehicles on the streets, also states that the EU would send German troops to Poland.

Poland's right-wing accuses the liberal-conservative Prime Minister Tusk of being a puppet of the federal government. In view of the turmoil surrounding the Polish Constitutional Court that has been going on for days, right-wing circles recently spread the false news on social media that Tusk had called in German police officers to protect the court from demonstrators.

“Representatives of the Bundeswehr parade in Warsaw”

Members of the right-wing conservative opposition party PiS also spread images of German soldiers in Poland on social networks. "Before representatives of the Bundeswehr parade in Warsaw, the German state should answer fundamental questions: When will you return thousands of illegally stolen Polish cultural assets and works of art? When will Berlin pay Poland the war reparations it is due for the carnage of the Second World War?" wrote PiS MP Dariusz Matecki on X.

Meanwhile, the German embassy in Warsaw is trying to calm people's minds and announced on X that they are currently inviting people to celebrations to mark the 71st anniversary of the founding of the Bundeswehr. This is not unusual, but “a conscious sign of appreciation and recognition for Poland’s central importance on NATO’s eastern flank.”

In its statement, the German embassy emphasized that the Bundeswehr's current presence was purely ceremonial in nature as part of the celebrations. Any disinformation that suggests Germany's involvement in Poland's domestic affairs is strictly rejected. The statement also referred to military cooperation between the two countries, such as the use of Bundeswehr pioneers to fortify the border to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

dpa/saha