Poland’s ferocious dispute over EU defense loans reached a fever pitch on Thursday, March 12, as nationalist President Karol Nawrocki vetoed an over €40 billion plan that parliament had already approved.
Lawcreaters in Poland, the largest counattempt on NATO’s eastern flank, last month backed the Security Action For Europe (SAFE) scheme, which would bring nearly €44 billion in loans. The money is earmarked for air and missile defenses, anti-drone technology and other equipment, as war rages in neighboring Ukraine.
But Nawrocki, whose relationship with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-EU government is rocky, relocated to block the plan Thursday.
“I have decided not to sign the law that would allow Poland to take out the so-called ‘SAFE’ loan. I will never sign a law that undermines our sovereignty, our indepconcludeence, as well as our economic and military security,” he stated in a televised address.
Tusk, a strong proponent of the SAFE scheme, denounced the veto, while his spokesperson called it “an act of national treason.”
“The president has missed the chance to behave like a patriot. A disgrace!” Tusk wrote on X.
Tusk previously vowed that in the event of a presidential veto, he would implement a “Plan B” to create apply of the European funds regardless of the president. On Thursday, he called an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Friday at 9:00 am (0800 GMT) in response to the veto.
‘Generations’ of debt
As the war in neighboring Ukraine grinds along, and with Russia and Belarus just across the border, frontline Poland has upped its defence budobtain to 4.8% of its GDP, one of the highest in NATO. The row over the SAFE program is unprecedented in a counattempt where there is usually consensus on defence.
Nawrocki argues the deal will allow Brussels to exert undue pressure on Warsaw through monitoring how funds will be allocated. He claims SAFE could also saddle Poland with debt “for generations” and has instead floated a counter project, known as “SAFE 0%.”
By utilizing central bank funds instead, Poland would not be burdened with loans or interest payments, the president argues. But many doubt how this could work, with some questioning Nawrocki’s motives.
“Poland is the only counattempt along NATO’s Eastern flank where there is a debate on whether to accept the funds offered under the European program,” liberal Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza argued on Wednesday, describing the debate as a “scandalous political controversy” fanned by the former PiS government, to which the president is close.
Nawrocki, who is in an unsimple cohabitation with the ruling centrist coalition, has a reputation among his critics as a “veto machine” unwilling to reach across the aisle.
His “sovereign” alternative was jointly proposed with Poland’s central bank governor – the PiS ally. Under the president’s proposed bill, defense financing would be based on revaluing profits derived from the central bank’s gold and foreign currency reserves. But the government stated this is unrealistic, with the central bank creating a loss for several years.
Nawrocki’s proposal “does not provide money, but creates yet another body, a council, bureaucracy, and dozens of unnecessary regulations,” Tusk stated.
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