Macron listed Kaczyński in this context alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports in Poland.
Kaczyński, head of Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, told reporters on Tuesday: "In Poland there is full democracy, possibly the best in Europe."
Addressing an audience at a May Day rally in Paris on Monday, Macron was quoted by French media as saying: "The friends of Ms Le Pen are the regimes of Mr Orban, Kaczyński, Putin."
“Every day they break many democratic freedoms and thus the rules of democracy,” Macron added, as quoted by Poland’s TV Republika.
The Polish ministry on Tuesday issued a statement to say that “the government of the Republic of Poland is not an ally of Ms. Marine Le Pen. Indicating an alleged alliance between Madame Le Pen and the chairman of Law and Justice is a manipulation.”
'Wrong and inappropriate'
The ministry also said that “counting Jarosław Kaczyński among the group of ‘Le Pen’s friends who are violating many freedoms’ is wrong and inappropriate.”
According to the ministry, “values and rules of free democracy are observed in Poland.”
“The fundamental values that have been present in the Polish political culture and tradition for hundreds of years include respect and tolerance for people who have different political views or a different faith,” the ministry said in its statement.
“We would also like to recall that anyone who is familiar with the history and the domestic political scene in Poland has no right to accuse Poles of sympathies for imperial Russia, " the ministry added.
The Foreign Ministry also said it expects that “the future president of France – regardless of which candidate wins the election – will do an in-depth analysis and clarify any possible doubts in bilateral contacts before making judgments about other states’ policies.”
'Unacceptable' comments
Last week, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski slammed "unacceptable" comments by Macron, who, in a previous statement that angered officials in Warsaw, said he would push for EU sanctions against Poland.
Waszczykowski said at the time that Macron "violated European standards and the principles of friendship with Poland".
Macron said on Thursday, April 27, that if he is elected, France would argue for the European Union to introduce sanctions against Poland for “violating all the European Union’s principles”, according to the Voix du Nord daily.
Speaking to the French paper after a meeting at a Whirlpool plant in the northern city of Amiens, whose workers were striking in protest of the whitegoods manufacturer’s decision to move some of its production to Poland, Macron also said that Poland was playing on differences in labour costs, which “we cannot tolerate”.
But Waszczykowski said Macron’s statement called into question the very basis of the European common market, according to the wPolityce.pl website.
Polish parliamentary Speaker Marek Kuchciński said sanctions against Poland were “a fantasy”, adding that Macron’s statement was part of his election campaign.
As French voters prepare to head to the polls on Sunday, opinion polls point to Macron winning the second round of the country’s presidential election with around 60 percent of the vote. (str/pk)
Source: TV Republika, PAP, Le Point