The decision by President Karol Nawrocki not to sign the law concerning the SAFE program quickly spread across the media space – including abroad. Both German and French media have described the Polish head of state as a “nationalist” and have attributed euroscepticism to him.
Yesterday, President Karol Nawrocki announced his decision to veto the bill concerning the EU SAFE loan. The president’s veto triggered a reaction across the entire government camp. Donald Tusk convened an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers this morning, which was also attended by the head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, Zbigniew Bogucki.
After the meeting, Bogucki informed that the government had indeed adopted a resolution that differs very little from the vetoed SAFE law.
Foreign Media on the President: “Nationalist”
Nevertheless, since yesterday there has been an intensified attack directed at the President of Poland. Some politicians from the so-called December 13 coalition have even accused the president of “national treason”. Foreign media outlets – including German and French ones – have also joined the criticism.
The French daily Le Figaro described Karol Nawrocki’s decision as “a blow to European defense”, while referring to the president himself as a “nationalist”.
“Karol Nawrocki and the nationalist party Law and Justice (PiS), from which he originates, view the SAFE program as a Trojan horse allowing Brussels – and Berlin, still seen by part of the right as a dominant neighbor – to exert pressure on Warsaw,” the newspaper wrote.
Another French outlet, the website of France 24, struck a similar tone, stating that “the fierce dispute in Poland reached its climax on Thursday when the nationalist president Karol Nawrocki vetoed a multi-billion plan that parliament had already approved.” It also pointed to the “tense relations between the Polish president and the pro-European government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.”
The president’s veto also attracted the attention of the German daily Die Welt. In its coverage, the paper described President Nawrocki as “eurosceptic”, focusing on what it called the “negative campaign regarding SAFE conducted by Law and Justice (PiS).”
The outlet Politico also wrote that Poland is the only European Union country where the SAFE program has become “a political issue.” It linked this to the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in Poland in 2027.
“The clash over SAFE comes as Poland prepares for next year’s parliamentary elections, in which Law and Justice (PiS) hopes to defeat Tusk’s pro-EU coalition. Polls suggest that Tusk’s party, the liberal Civic Platform (KO), may come first but might not have the votes to form a majority. Meanwhile, Law and Justice (PiS) could secure a majority if it allied itself with the far-right Confederation party and the even more extreme, antisemitic Confederation of the Polish Crown,” Politico wrote.