Polish MP confronts German soldiers in Warsaw over exhibition visit

Dariusz Matecki, a Polish MP from the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), filmed a video in Warsaw in which he demands that German soldiers explain their presence and declares that they have no place in Poland. As it turned out, the Bundeswehr personnel had come to the Polish capital for an exhibition at the German embassy marking the 70th anniversary of the German air force (the Luftwaffe).

How the MP “exposed” the Germans

Matecki linked the soldiers’ appearance to the acute political crisis surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal. The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk tried to remove the tribunal’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, who was originally nominated by PiS. President Karol Nawrocki, who was elected with PiS backing, called the move “violent and illegal.”

Spotting the German soldiers, the MP walked up to one of them and filmed as he went. “Excuse me, what are you doing here?” he asked in German, then repeated the question in English and introduced himself as a member of the Polish parliament. One of the soldiers explained that he had come with colleagues for an exhibition. The rest of the recording is a monologue by Matecki about how German security forces could intervene in Poland in support of Tusk’s government.

On the social network X, the MP wrote that he had seen “dozens of German army and police vehicles” on Polish roads. According to the news portal Fakt, his video shows only a few Bundeswehr trucks on the grounds of the German embassy.

Far-right backing and the embassy’s response

In the video, Matecki said: “We don’t want German police in Poland, we don’t want German soldiers in Poland. We don’t want a European army that could intervene in Poland.” He was joined by Konrad Berkowicz, an MP from the far-right New Hope party. He wrote that Tusk had “brought in reinforcements from Germany” and that “Brussels, led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, has sent soldiers to Poland.”

The German embassy had to step in. In its statement, the embassy said the soldiers had come for an exhibition marking the Luftwaffe’s 70th anniversary and that Warsaw was chosen deliberately — in recognition of Poland’s role in defending NATO’s eastern flank. The embassy firmly rejected any claims of interference in Poland’s domestic politics.

Fakt noted that in July Germany sent specialized engineering and ground units to Poland, including a medical service. They are helping to build elements of NATO’s “Eastern Shield” on the border with Russia.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz