WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Poland's Prime Minister compared Europe's request for US protection against Russia to "Muslims asking the world to protect them from 7 million Jews"'.
OUR VERDICT
False. There is no evidence he made that comparison.
AAP FACTCHECK - Poland's prime minister did not compare Europe's reliance on the US to defend itself against Russia with "Muslims asking the world to protect them" against Jews, despite claims online.
There is no evidence or credible media reports that the Polish leader referenced Muslims or Jews when speaking about Europe relying on the US for defence.
The claim is in a Threads post with a graphic featuring an image of a man in a suit and an image of a bomb-ravaged city with a text box.
"The Prime Minister of Poland says ... 'How can 500 million Europeans ask 300 million Americans to protect them from 140 million Russians...???' Then he adds: 'But I'll tell you something even more astonishing - there are 2 billion Muslims asking the world to protect them from 7 million Jews...!!?' the text in the box says.
The post caption reads: "The Prime Minister of Poland is puzzled. So am I!"
A reverse image search on TinEye reveals the background image was first indexed from Wikimedia Commons on November 27, 2023.
The Wikipedia page credits Palestinian news agency WAFA in contract with local photojournalism agency APAimages.
APAimages describes the image as "damage following an Israeli airstrike on the El-Remal area in Gaza City on October 9, 2023".
A Google reverse image search of the headshot reveals the man in the suit is not Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, but a portrait of outgoing Polish President Andrzej Duda featured on Poland's presidential website (screenshot).
A Google search for the words attributed to Tusk in the post revealed the first half of the quote — about Europeans asking Americans to protect them from Russians and the figures cited — is authentic.
AAP FactCheck found several occasions where Tusk was reported to have said this, including during press conferences and to the Polish parliament.
His comments to a press conference following a security summit in London, which was attended by multiple Western leaders on March 2, 2025, were reported by Poland's Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
Tusk was arguing that Europe needed to build up its own defence capacity, in light of growing geopolitical challenges, particularly Russia's war against Ukraine.
The Chancellery report said Tusk presented data about Europe and Ukraine possessing twice as many fighter jets as Russia, and having a significant advantage in terms of professional soldiers.
"The paradox is that 500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians," Tusk said, according to the report.
"We must rely on ourselves, fully aware of our potential and with confidence that we are a global power."
The report did not say that Tusk made any statement about Muslims and Jews following the summit.
Tusk also did not mention Muslims or Jews in an airport press conference prior to the London summit, which was posted on the Chancellery's YouTube channel.
Tusk spoke Polish in the clip, but his remarks can be followed in English by changing the YouTube video's subtitles settings to "auto-translate" and choosing "English".
His comments about Europe, the US and Russia are at timestamp four minutes 12 seconds.
Indian newspaper The Economic Times and Turkish outlets Anadolu English and TRT World published clips of the same airport press conference with English subtitles, and he makes no mention of 'Muslims' or 'Jews'.
English-language media outlets The Hill and the NY Post also reported Tusk's comments about Europe's defences without any of the additional comments claimed in the Threads post.
Politico reported on March 7, 2025, that Tusk made very similar comments to the Polish parliament, which also did not include any reference to 'Muslims' or 'Jews'.
AAP FactCheck could find no reporting by any reputable news outlet attributing the comment about Muslims and Jews to Tusk.
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