During a BBC commentary about Orban’s Hungary policy towards Ukraine, a large screen behind the journalist presented a map on which the territory of the Russian Federation was described as 'Poland’.

„Fantastic map courtesy of the BBC,” a slip-up by British television was picked up by a Ukrainian magazine.

„Spotted on the BBC. The rise of the Polish East,” an American political scientist Ian Bremmer remarked.

Poland has already been the subject of a BBC “map mistake” in the past. In the documentary ’Stadiums of Hate’, prepared before Euro 2012, the TV channel included a map of Europe with Poland and Ukraine, then hosts of the football event. From that map, it appeared that Poland’s close, bordering neighbour was Austria, which borders only Czechia and Slovakia, both Poland’s neighbours.

Some commentators noticed that if the map would reflect reality it might not be a bad thing. At least for Poles and Ukrainians. 

Tomasz Modrzejewski