While he was in London earlier this week, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski caused controversy when he suggested that the political thinking of some Poles could be compared to that of alleged mass murderer, Anders Breivik.

“In Poland there is no lack of people who think like Behring Breivik, a man who shot at his own people in order to bring down a government he believed had lost its political and legal right to govern,” Mr Sikorski was quoted as saying by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

He went on to say that in Poland “we too have groups who believe that the democratically elected president and government are traitors who have no real interest in Poland or the Polish people. These are very dangerous emotions which, if stoked, could have unpredictable consequences.”

The Polish foreign minister talked about his own battle against such “dangerous emotions” by describing his ongoing court case regarding anti-Semitic remarks made about his wife, Anne Applebaum, that were posted on a number of web portals.

Following Mr Sikorski's words, Law and Justice MP Michał Ujazdowski stated that “the foreign minister is the last person who should be expressing false opinions, let alone those which also put Poland in a bad light.”

However, the vice-marshal of the Sejm, Stefan Niesiołowski, supported Mr Sikorski, saying “people of whom the minister spoke do exist. It's enough just to go to Krakowskie Przedmieście [street], or to pick up a “Gazeta Polska” or “Nasz Dziennik” to be convinced of this,” reported Rzeczpospolita.

The Polish foreign minister later took to his Twitter account to explain himself, saying that his remarks were made “exclusively to Polish journalists,” according to a report by Rzeczpospolita.

Mr Sikorski was in London primarily to discuss the priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the EU's eastern European policy.

Tara Taylor