Poland 'taught France how to use fork' says deputy minister amid helicopter row

[Sui Generis]

Poland "taught the French how to use a fork", a Polish deputy minister has said, amid a continuing row over a cancelled defence contract.
Deputy Defence Minister Bartosz Kownacki also accused the French of lacking "class" after losing the multi-billion dollar contract to build 50 Airbus Caracal helicopters for Poland.

A Law and Justice party spokeswoman said the remarks were "unfortunate".
Poland is to buy US Black Hawks instead. Airbus has threatened to sue.
Speaking on TV, Mr Kownacki accused France of responding by withdrawing the offer of free accommodation and a car for the Polish delegation at a defence fair in Paris next week.

"They are a people who learned to eat with a fork from us a few centuries ago. So maybe this is why they are behaving in this way now," he said.
MPs from the opposition Civic Platform party called for him to be fired.

"Forkgate" is the latest in a series of controversies Law and Justice has become embroiled in since taking power last November.
Earlier this month the government retreated from imposing a near-total ban on abortion after massive street protests by women.
The party has also been criticised by the EU for taking control of state media appointments and for reforms to Poland's constitutional court.

The previous Civic Platform-run government had chosen Airbus to supply Poland with helicopters after a tendering process.
But the Law and Justice party, which took power last November, said the deal was bad for Poland and scrapped it.
Forks are believed to have spread from the Byzantine Empire to southern Europe in the early part of the Second Millennium and were commonly used in northern Europe by the 1800s.

While there is indeed reason to believe that King Henry III introduced forks to his subjects after discovering them in Poland, where he had previously been elected king, there is no actual evidence to prove that Kownacki’s claim is true.

Some historians believe the king actually discovered the almighty fork during a stay in Venice after leaving Poland.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37634812

https://www.rt.com/news/362597-poland-france-fork-spat/

[Ülev]

relax

[Marzipan]

True or not, how silly.

business+politics=fork

Aren't the French known for fine dining?

Either way, still silly.

[Bezprym]

Our current government seem to be an expert in trolling.

[Ülev]

Our current government seem to be an expert in trolling.

not only government?

http://niezalezna.pl/87509-wikipedia...e-wpis-o-widel

Wikipedia edited on political needs? The attack on the deputy minister and changing the article of forks

[Óttar]

He provides absolutely no source for his assertion, which until given proof, I shall regard as a crock.

Fork Facts

Even though knives and spoons were in use for tens of thousands of years, forks became commonplace only 1000 years ago. As the European nobility was responsible for the spreading of many inventions and traditions around the world, the first appearance of the fork in front of them was recorded in 1004, when Greek niece of the Byzantine emperor used golden fork at her wedding in Venice. Sadly, her "unconventional ways of eating" did not manage to fascinate Italian nobles, and forks remained unused for several more centuries. However their rise came with the arrival of Italian Renaissance. Introduced to French Court by Catherine de Medici in 1533, forks slowly started to gain grounds in Frenchnobility and common people. It must be noted that forks were indeed used by many European courts even in 14th century, but only with exotic foods that brought finger stains that were harder to clean.

http://www.eatingutensils.net/

Doesn't say a damn thing about Poles teaching Frenchmen.

[Bezprym]

not only government?

http://niezalezna.pl/87509-wikipedia...e-wpis-o-widel

Wikipedia edited on political needs? The attack on the deputy minister and changing the article of forks

That's hilarious!

[Unome]

Poland teaches France how to trollolololol.

[Harkonnen]

So what is the deal in Poland? I have heard rumors that some Retheloids have risen to power in Poland and there are issues regarding freedom of speach, ie. media people have been fired for not bowing to government demands on official truth.

Is Poland heading the Belarussia path, or maybe some new "sovietic" style system?

[Sui Generis]

Our current government seem to be an expert in trolling.

Sometimes we say these kind things for some too. Something like "Yeah their ancestors learned from us to take bath and now look at that bla bla.."