text: Poland’s deputy defense minister has resorted to schoolyard insults against Paris, claiming his nation taught the French to “eat with a fork.” It comes after France withdrew Poland’s invite to an event, following a breakdown in Airbus helicopter talks. 
   
   Referring to the Euronaval 2016 event set to take place in Paris next week, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Bartosz Kownacki told TVN24 news channel that “the French side officially invited us a long time ago and now they are showing us the door.” 
   
   “But these are the people we taught to eat with a fork a couple of centuries ago, which may explain their behavior today. This is obvious history, and I invite you to read up on that.” 
   
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   The revoked invitation was delivered to Warsaw via the Polish Embassy in Paris, according to media reports. The cancelation was confirmed to AFP by a source familiar with the matter. 
   
   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. 
   
   Although Kownacki is clearly angry over the canceled invitation to the Euronaval event, his remarks have been condemned by Poland’s liberal opposition, as well as the spokeswoman of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, Beata Mazurek, who described the comments as “unfortunate” and “not very diplomatic.” 
   
   “Minister Kownacki is perhaps the first politician to commit diplomatic suicide by fork,” the Polish Polityka weekly said in an article on its website. 
   
   The snub came after Poland halted talks with French aviation company Airbus, which were aimed at the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters by Warsaw. The suspended talks were met with a furious response from Airbus chief executive Tom Enders, who said his company had never been treated so badly by any government. 
   
   The talks had been backed by Paris, and the cancellation unleashed tension between the two governments, with French President Francois Hollande postponing a visit to the Polish capital. 
   
   READ MORE: New Poland defense minister in hot water over Jewish conspiracy theory 
   
   There is disagreement, however, over which side actually ended the talks. 
   
   The Euronaval 2016 event is supported by the French Ministry of Defense and the French Navy. The five-day naval and maritime defense exhibition is set to include a range of industry-related security technologies, products, and services. It is seen as one of the most important exhibitions of its kind in Europe. 
   
   Diplomacy is not always something Polish defense officials excel at. Earlier this year, Kownacki’s boss, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, lashed out at the US saying “people who only built their state in the 18th century are going to tell us what democracy is?” The statement came after the US and the EU criticized Poland over the democratic process relating to the Constitutional Tribunal reform. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Was fork use in Europe pioneered by the Poles? 
   
   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. 
   
   A bumpy ride for Poland's Law and Justice party 
   
   Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Paul Adams examines the political scene in Poland 
   
   "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. 
   
   Read more: Poland returns to conservative roots with Law and Justice win 
   
   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.
target: – Note to self: Don't anger Poland's deputy defense minister, or he'll remind you about your country's uncouth eating habits from the 1500s. That was Bartosz Kownacki's reaction after France apparently rescinded Poland's invite to the Euronaval maritime defense fair next week, the Guardian reports. And that disinvite was because Poland apparently backed out of buying 50 Airbus helicopters and decided to buy US Black Hawks instead; France was said to be backing the original Airbus deal, per the BBC. But while the dialogue started to take a turn for the worse regarding the choppers and the negotiations, it's Kownacki's comments on a particular dining utensil that's now causing a commotion. "These are the people we taught to eat with a fork a couple of centuries ago, which may explain their behavior today," Kownacki sniffed to the TVN24 network, via RT.com. "This is obvious history, and I invite you to read up on that." He was referring to the story that King Henry III of France eagerly introduced the fork to the French population after he first came across it in Poland while he was king there. Historians aren't sure if this is how it actually happened, though, noting Henry also may have stumbled across the fork in Venice. Either way, some aren't happy with Kownacki's dining diss, with a member of Poland's Law and Justice Party calling his remarks "unfortunate," while a Polish weekly notes, "Minister Kownacki is perhaps the first politician to commit diplomatic suicide by fork." (A first-grader was suspended for the eating utensil he brought to school.)