Tesco in Kraków: photo - CC/wiki
Jan Bury, who leads the Polish Peasants Party (PSL) in parliament, said that a boycott of the British supermarket in Poland will show that “as Poles, we can also say 'no' to David Cameron and his policies, which are hostile and scandalous towards Poland and Poles.”
Tesco has opened over 300 stores in Poland since entering the Polish market in 1995 and currently employs around 30,000 workers.
The boycott call came as Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, spoke with David Cameron for 40 minutes on the telephone, Wednesday.
Minister for European Affairs Piotr Serafin said that David Cameron told PM Tusk that "he did not intend to stigmatize Poles who work in the British Isles" when he called for changes in EU rules on welfare benefits.
Donald Tusk responded that "regardless of intentions" he could not accept the remarks, Serafin told reporters, adding that the government would block any attempts to change EU law on migration within the 28-nation bloc.
Cameron angered Polish MPs when he said at the weekend: "It's wrong that someone from Poland, who comes here, who works hard - and I am absolutely all in favour of that - but I don't think we should be paying child benefit, to their family back at home in Poland."
Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski responded on Twitter: ""UK social security rules apply to all resident EU citizens. No need to stigmatize Poles. What about British children abroad?."
PM Cameron has said he wants to change the rules on migration following hundreds of thousands of Poles arriving in Britain since 2004 to live and work and UK media has been full of reports of a possible wave of immigration from Romanians and Bulgarians after gaining full rights to work in the UK and elsewhere from 1 January.
Former UK foreign minister Jack Straw admitted late last year that his Labour party government made "a huge mistake" in allowing Poles and other new EU members unrestricted access to Britain's labour market.
Benefits
Over 25,000 Polish children are reportedly claiming child benefit in the UK, though not all live there.
Minister Serafin said that though the British government has every right to set its own social security policies, "these decisions - as long as we are members of the EU - can not stigmatize any national group and must respect European law".
The row looks set to rumble on through the first half of this year, before elections to the European Parliament in May. (pg)