Poland foreign minister's racist joke on Barack Obama

Poland's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, faces one of his less comfortable public appearances today when he speaks to the Atlantic Council in Washington on "a European perspective on the Barack Obama promise".

In an episode that could potentially strain relations between Warsaw and Washington, Radek Sikorski, an Oxford-educated politician who has lived in the US, was reported to have made a racist jibe by an opposition politician, Ryszard Czarnecki, reports Daily Telegraph.

Writing in his blog, Mr Czarnecki, an MEP, quoted the foreign minister as saying: "Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary."

A spokesman for the Polish foreign office conceded that Mr Sikorski had made the controversial comment, but denied that the foreign minister had intended to insult Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan.

"Mr Sikorski did not tell a racist joke," said Piotr Paszkowski, the spokesman. "He was only giving an example of the unpalatable and racist 'jokes' that surround President Elect Obama."

Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has made no comment on the affair. It appears that Mr Sikorski's position is not under threat despite calls from opposition politicians for an investigation to deter if the foreign minister broke anti-racism laws.

The derogatory comment about Mr Obama's family may also have become common staple in Polish political circles. Wojciech Olejniczak, the leader of Poland's main Left-wing party, the SLD, alleged that he first heard it from Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a Right-wing former prime minister and twin brother of the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski.

And Mr Sikorski's comments were not an isolated case. Poland, one of the most pro-Republican of US allies, has had wider difficulties with Mr Obama's victory.

Last week Poland issued an apology to President-elect Barack Obama, after a controversial right-wing politician made racist comments against him.

During a parliamentary session, the day after Senator Obama's election victory, Mr Gorski had called him a "black crypto-communist", and a "naive individual whose election must delight al-Qaeda". He also said that Mr. Obama's election was "a disaster" and "the end of the white man's civilization."

Mr Gorski, 38, is a member of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which was founded by the president and his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a former prime minister who is still at the helm of the movement.

Facing a media storm, Mr Gorski played down his remarks overnight but was unapologetic.

"Some of my language could indeed have been open to interpretation, but from my point of view it can't be considered racist," Mr Gorski was quoted as saying by Poland's PAP news agency.

Warsaw has had problems with the new administration on more serious issues, too. After the first telephone conversation between Mr Obama and Lech Kaczynski, Poland's president, one of Mr Kaczynski's senior adviserssaid the missile defence shield programme would be continued. Poland signed a preliminary deal with the US this summer to host a missile interceptor base. That comment was immediately shot down by an Obama adviser, who said no such commitment had been made.