Former US President Bill Clinton should apologize to the Poles for having said they think “democracy is too much trouble'' and want to have an “authoritarian dictatorship,'' Poland's prime minister has said.
Beata Szydlo called Clinton's words “unjustified and simply unfair".
“With all due respect, and without using coarse words, [Clinton] exaggerated and should apologize to us,'' she told Polish state radio on Wednesday.
Speaking in New Jersey in support of wife Hillary's U.S. presidential campaign, Clinton said Hungary and Poland “would not be free'' if not for the United States, but “have now decided this democracy is too much trouble.''
Meanwhile, Hungary's government has also vilified Clinton's comments, suggesting perhaps his recollection of historic events might be a little off.
“They want Putin-like leadership. Just give me an authoritarian dictatorship and keep the foreigners out,'' he said.
“Sound familiar?'' Clinton asked, in apparent reference to campaign statements by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
A comparison to Putin is especially shocking in Poland, which is very distrustful and critical of his policies.
Clinton was also referring to Warsaw and Budapest protesting European Union plans to redistribute some of the tens of thousands of refugees flooding into Europe and refusing to take some of them in.