In doubt over EU defence funding, Nawrocki talks to central bank head
Karol Nawrocki, the Polish president, has met with Adam Glapinski, the country's central bank governor to discuss alternatives to SAFE, the EU-sponsored large-scale programme of defence loans.
SAFE provides EU member states with low-interest loans for defence projects which can be repaid over a very long period of time. The Polish pro-EU coalition government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has applied for funding of 139 such projects, seeking a total of EUR 43.7 billion.
But the right-wing president has not been enthusiastic about the idea.
Nawrocki and Glapinski are both affiliated with the main opposition party, the socially-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), who have for years been very critical of the European Union, and the party's distrust of the EU leadership was only intensified after the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Poland, then ruled by PiS, and blocked billions of euros in post-pandemic funding for the country over the party's judicial reforms that Brussels said violated the rule of law. The funds have since been unfrozen amid the Tusk government's efforts to restore the rule of law.
On Wednesday, Nawrocki met with Glapinski, a long-time close friend of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of PiS, apparently to find an alternative to the European funding, which they fear could be blocked if a future Polish government finds itself in conflict with Brussels.
"Today, after weeks of meetings between experts at the President's Office, but also following the actions of the Governor of the National Bank of Poland, Mr Adam Glapinski... we discussed the Polish SAFE 0 percent [programme]," Nawrocki said after the meeting.
"We are ready to cooperate with the government and the president," Glapinski added.
Nawrocki then went on to enumerate what he saw as the drawbacks of the European funding, including its long repayment period, until 2070, and its potential "inconsistency with Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union, where security obviously belongs to the member states of the European Union and not to the European Union itself."
The so-called conditionality of the SAFE programme, which means that conditions need to be met to receive the funding was, unsurprisingly, also scorned by Nawrocki, who said it is "a threat to the stability and development of the Polish armed forces."
He also appeared to be critical of SAFE's focus on purchases from European firms.
"The war in Iran and recent US operations also demonstrate what they demonstrate: above all, the effectiveness of American equipment," Nawrocki said.
While being vocally critical of the EU and hardly ever expressing any positive opinions about the bloc, Nawrocki reserves all the praise for the current US administration, and US President Donald Trump in particular. The sympathy seems to be mutual as Trump has also expressed very positive views of Nawrocki, and even supported his candidacy in the presidential campaign of 2025.
Without providing much detail, Glapinski implied that Polish currency reserves would play some role in the "Polish SAFE 0 percent programme."
"Our foreign exchange reserves are the reserves of all Poles," Glapinski said. "These are Poland's reserves entrusted to the management of the National Bank of Poland.
"We cannot use any part of the reserves... in the sense that part of the reserves will be transferred, because it is against the law," Glapinski continued. "The time will come for details, which we will present later."
Nawrocki said he was going to invite Tusk and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz to a meeting devoted to the latest idea of domestic no-interest defence loans.
The Polish parliament has recently passed a bill allowing for the implementation of SAFE loans, but the legislation needs Nawrocki's signature to become law. (PAP)
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