Does Poland intend to withdraw from the European Union after elections scheduled for October 15, 2023? No, that's not true: This is a misleading interpretation of the words said by Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk in a publication on X, formerly known as Twitter. The politician stated: "On October 15, either we will lead PiS out, or PiS will lead us out. Out of the Union."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on September 28, 2023, published by the account @sotniktiktok, which has repeatedly posted misinformation on TikTok. The same claim has been shared here and here. The entire caption reads (translated from Russian by Lead Stories staff):
Poland is going to exit the European Union
Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk declared that after the elections "on October 15, either we will take PIS out or PIS will take us out. Out of the EU."
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Oct 4 10:27:31 2023 UTC)
The subject of Poland's possible withdrawal from the European Union is off the table. On September 27, 2023, Polish opposition leader and former Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on his page X (translated from Polish by Lead Stories staff): On October 15, either we will lead PiS out, or PiS will lead us out. Out of the Union. Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) is a right-wing populist and national conservative ruling party in Poland.
Withdrawing from the EU is a rather complicated and lengthy process. Officially, Warsaw has not made any official declarations about its intention to leave the EU. On August 8, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that parliamentary elections on October 15 will determine Warsaw's relations with the European Union at a time when it faces rising tensions on its eastern border.
