The conservative minority government of Poland’s Law and Justice party has agreed to enter a coalition with two extreme right parties. The two parties which signed the agreement, the League of Polish Families and Self-Defense, have a history of anti-Semitic stances. Jan Maria Jackowski, a prominent member of the League of Polish Families, has warned against Poland becoming a “land reserve” for Jewish settlement and called accusations of pedophilia against a Polish priest a “Judeo-Communist plot.” The party also is closely aligned with Radio Maryja, frequently cited for its anti-Semitic broadcasts. Andrzej Lepper, leader of the populist Self-Defense Party, has referred enthusiastically to Goebbel’s “propaganda skills” and Hitler’s “economic policy,” according to the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University. According to Polish media reports, Lepper has also received an honorary degree and supported Ukraine’s Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, or MAUP, which frequently publishes anti-Semitic material. The Law and Justice party has struggled to form a coalition since a narrow parliamentary election victory in September and has been in a de facto coalition with Self-Defense and the League of Polish Families without a formal agreement.
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