Polish opposition admits leader wrong to suggest Hungarian PM-elect killed puppy in microwave

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, today suggested that Hungary’s incoming prime minister, Péter Magyar, killed a puppy in a microwave, repeating a false and widely debunked online claim.

A few hours later, a party spokesman admitted that Kaczyński had been wrong, saying that he had “relied on information that has been circulated by the media”. However, he added that the PiS leader stood by other criticism of Magyar, who Kaczyński says “should not exist in public life”.

Kaczyński is a longstanding ally of Viktor Orbán, who on Sunday was ousted as prime minister in elections comprehensively won by Magyar’s Tisza party. Meanwhile, Magyar enjoys friendly relations with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is a bitter enemy of Kaczyński.

Speaking to the media in parliament on Tuesday, Kaczyński said that Magyar “is a man to whom I will not, under any circumstances, offer my congratulations”, adding that “such people simply should not exist in the public life of Poland, Europe, or the world”.

“What I know about this gentleman is that his victory is one of the symptoms of the complete indifference of European societies to drastic facts,” continued the PiS leader, saying that Magyar had committed “unbelievable acts in his private life”.

Pressed for an example, he suggested that Magyar had “cooked a puppy”, referring to a claim that Magyar’s ex-wife, former Hungarian justice minister Judit Varga, had written an autobiography in which she said that Magyar had killed a puppy in a microwave.

However, that claim, which was first reported by an anonymous website created a week before the elections, has been widely debunked, including by Varga herself, who has confirmed she that never wrote such a book.

Kaczyński’s dissemination of the false claim was widely criticised by Polish commentators and politicians from Tusk’s ruling coalition. Around four hours later, PiS party spokesman Rafał Bochenek issued a statement on social media acknowledging Kaczyński’s error though offering no apology for it.

“In connection with today’s statement by Chairman Kaczyński referring to the behaviours of Mr Péter Magyar (including the thread about the puppy in the microwave), I would like to point out that Chairman Kaczyński relied on information that had been circulated by the media for many days,” he wrote.

“Amid the multitude of numerous controversial materials depicting situations involving the candidate supported by Tusk, it just so happens that this one turned out to be untrue,” he added.

“It would be good if the others were also fabricated, but unfortunately they are not. It is characteristic that these behaviours and statements do not bother Tusk,” concluded Bochenek, without giving any examples of such unacceptable behaviour by Magyar.

PiS strongly support Orbán and his Fidesz party in the Hungarian elections. Kaczyński himself said that an Orbán victory was vital for Europe in order to hold back “German neo-imperialism”.

By contrast, Tusk has regularly clashed with Orbán and celebrated Magyar’s victory. Magyar himself has announced that his first foreign visit once he becomes prime minister will be to Poland.

Meanwhile, Magyar has pledged to facilitate the extradition to Poland of two former PiS government ministers who fled criminal charges and were granted asylum by Orbán’s government.

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.