A quote attributed to the Prime Minister of Poland comparing the global populations of Muslims and Jews is circulating on social media, but we could find no evidence Donald Tusk actually said this.
Posts on Threads and Instagram share an image with overlaid text saying: “The Prime Minister of Poland says…*‘How can 500 million Europeans ask 300 million Americans to protect them from 140 million Russians...??’ Then he adds: ‘But I'll tell you something even more astonishing-there are 2 billion Muslims asking the world to protect them from 7 million Jews...!!?’*”.
Another post shares an almost identical quote that instead refers to there being “a billion Muslims”.
The Prime Minister of Poland is Donald Tusk, but a photo of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, appears next to the text with an arrow suggesting he is the person being quoted.
We could find no evidence of either Mr Tusk or President Duda making any such remarks about Muslims and Jews.
We did find instances when Mr Tusk said the first part of the quote about Europe, America and Russia, but he does not continue to say the rest of the quote attributed to him in the posts.
Following a summit about building Europe’s defence capabilities in London in March 2025, Mr Tusk said: “The paradox is that 500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians. We must rely on ourselves, fully aware of our potential and with confidence that we are a global power.” He reportedly made similar remarks in an address to the Polish parliament.
We have contacted the offices of both Mr Tusk and Mr Duda, and will update this article if we receive a response.
According to Pew Research Center, the global Jewish population was an estimated 15 million in 2020, while the Muslim population was 2 billion.
We’ve seen other examples of fake or unevidenced quotes attributed to politicians on social media, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, US President Donald Trump, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
It’s important to consider whether information you see online comes from reliable sources before sharing it online. Full Fact’s toolkit details three questions to ask yourself to help you spot online misinformation.
