Polish Foreign Minister mocks Elon Musk: “Go to Mars, there is no prohibition on Nazi salutes”

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski responded harshly to Elon Musk after the billionaire called for the abolition of the EU, sarcastically telling Musk to “go to Mars”.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski responded harshly to Elon Musk. Photo: Getty.
Radoslaw Sikorski has mocked Elon Musk’s space ambitions, after the tech billionaire called for the abolition of the European Union (EU) on the X platform.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski says Elon Musk should “go to Mars” after the billionaire called for the EU to be scrapped.

Mr Sikorski was responding to criticism posted by the American entrepreneur on X. On Saturday, Musk wrote that the EU should be dissolved and sovereignty returned to member states “so that governments can better represent their people”. He then added: “How long until the EU disappears?” with the hashtag #AbolishTheEU.

Musk’s comments come after the European Commission fined social network X 120 million euros ($130 million) under the Digital Services Act, accusing the platform of failing to comply with transparency rules on advertising and user accounts. Musk has repeatedly criticized EU policies, saying they are too draconian and harmful to freedom of expression.

In response on December 7, Mr. Sikorski wrote: “Go to Mars. There is no censorship of the Nazi salute.”

Mr Sikorski appeared to be referring to an incident that took place in January during US President Donald Trump’s inaugural parade. Musk was caught performing a gesture similar to the Roman salute, which involves extending the right arm forward with the palm open. The gesture has often been compared to the Nazi salute, which is banned in many countries.

Critics – from human rights activists to historians to Jewish advocacy groups – have called it a “Nazi salute” and accused Musk of promoting anti-Semitism. Musk denies it, saying the comparison to Adolf Hitler is a “worn-out political attack.”

The billionaire has long promoted his vision of space colonization. In 2020, he said SpaceX planned to send the first humans to Mars by 2026 and aim to build a community of 1 million people on the planet by 2050. Mr. Trump has said Musk promised to send Americans to Mars before the end of his term.

Musk’s verbal attacks on the EU continued to escalate on Sunday, in what was seen as a challenge to the bloc’s restrictions on free speech – while also echoing his alleged Nazi-like gestures.

Musk replied “pretty much” (sort of) under a post captioned “Fourth Reich”, which showed an EU flag peeled back to reveal a swastika.