Deputy defence minister Bartosz Kownacki harks back to 16th-century cutlery history in ongoing row about cancellation of Airbus helicopter deal

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Poland’s deputy defence minister has claimed that Poles taught the French how to use forks as a diplomatic row rages over the handling of a failed multi-billion euro helicopter deal.



Bartosz Kownacki was speaking after France withdrew the Polish delegation’s invitation to a Euronaval industry fair in Paris next week amid tension over the breakdown in talks aimed at Poland buying Airbus choppers.

“The French side officially invited us a long time ago and now they are showing us the door,” Kownacki said on the TVN24 private news channel.

“But these are the people we taught to eat with a fork a couple of centuries ago, which may explain their behaviour today.”

He was referring to the fact that the fork was introduced to his subjects in the 16th century by King Henry III of France, who had earlier been elected king of Poland.

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Historians are however divided on the origin of that particular fork: some say the king discovered it during a stay in Venice after leaving Poland.

Others believe he really did become acquainted with the utensil in Poland, where the fork was introduced over half a century earlier by Poland’s Italian-born Queen Bona Sforza.

Kownacki’s comments were heavily condemned by the liberal opposition as well as the spokeswoman of the governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Beata Mazurek, who described them as “unfortunate” and “not very diplomatic”.

“Minister Kownacki is perhaps the first politician to commit diplomatic suicide by fork,” the Polityka weekly commented on its website.

Last week Poland halted talks with Airbus to buy 50 of its Caracal helicopters, drawing a furious response from chief executive Tom Enders who said his company had never been treated so badly by any government.

The spat has ratcheted up diplomatic tensions between Warsaw and Paris, which was backing Airbus in the process, leading French president François Hollande to postpone a visit to Warsaw.

There is disagreement over who actually ended the negotiations.

On Wednesday, several media outlets reported the cancellation of Poland’s invite to Euronaval, citing an official letter received at the Polish embassy in Paris.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the cancellation to AFP in Paris.