Speaking on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday, Sikorski said the kind of anti-European rhetoric being spread in Poland was "exactly the game that led to the United Kingdom leaving the EU."
He likened such behaviour to a historical practice known as warcholstwo – the ruinous factionalism of 18th-century Polish nobility that historians blame for the country's downfall.
Sikorski also warned that comparing the EU to the Third Reich or the Soviet Union was a de facto endorsement of leaving the bloc.
"If someone says the EU is the Third or Fourth Reich, they don't need to add that they're in favour of a Polexit, because if it really were the Third Reich, then of course we should leave. But that's nonsense," he said.
He singled out right-wing opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński, head of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, accusing him of attacking the bloc for purely political reasons, including an attempt to outflank openly anti-EU parties.
The remarks came after President Karol Nawrocki's decision to veto legislation implementing the EU's SAFE defence loan programme.
Some PiS politicians, including former defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak, have previously praised the scheme.
"You can whip up emotions, you can tell so many lies about the EU and imaginary threats to sovereignty that people will believe them—instead of focusing on the very real danger of Putin’s aggression," Sikorski said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned over the weekend that a “Polexit” had become a genuine risk, saying the country’s parliamentary elections next year would determine whether Poland remained in Europe.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned at the weekend that a "Polexit" had become a genuine risk, saying the country's parliamentary elections next year would determine whether Poland remained in Europe.
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP, IAR