The ruling coalition began criticizing the presidential program “Polish SAFE 0%” even before its details were presented, launching a broad attack through both politicians and supportive media commentators. “The scale of foreign political and media influence in Poland has not been so openly visible for a long time. Instead of a substantive discussion about the President’s proposal – a massive, furious attack,” said Adam Andruszkiewicz, Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
President Karol Nawrocki and the President of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapiński, announced on Wednesday the initiative “Polish SAFE 0%”, intended as an alternative to the EU program SAFE. The president also said he would send invitations on Wednesday to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz to attend a meeting. “If necessary, I will come forward with a legislative initiative,” Nawrocki declared.
Where will the PLN 185 billion come from?
Officials from the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland presented the main outlines of the project today, particularly regarding financing.
“Over the past several years, the National Bank has pursued a very thoughtful and active policy of investing in foreign currency and gold reserves. We have nearly one trillion PLN in reserves accumulated at the National Bank of Poland (…) we have 550 tons of gold and reserves in various currencies, mainly dollars and euros, but also others. In just the past 30 months, investment operations using the reserves managed by the National Bank of Poland have generated revenue of more than PLN 180 billion,” said Rafał Leśkiewicz, spokesperson for the President of the Republic of Poland, in Polsat News.
He added that the proposal is meant to “use the very fact of possessing reserves held by the National Bank of Poland to finance purchases for the Polish army, the police, and other uniformed services.”
“This is one element of the solution,” Leśkiewicz said.
Asked whether this referred to profits generated by the National Bank of Poland’s foreign currency and gold reserves, he replied “of course.” “It is based on the reserves held by the National Bank of Poland,” he added.
He also denied that using NBP reserves in the proposed manner would violate the law, because – as he explained – the plan concerns profits generated from reserves, not direct financing from the National Bank of Poland.
Similar calculations were presented on social media by the Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Poland, Paweł Szefernaker.
“The value of gold accumulated by the National Bank of Poland increased by approximately PLN 185 billion between the end of 2023 and the end of 2025, which is about EUR 43 billion. That is exactly the amount the government wants to borrow with interest through SAFE. A Polish SAFE 0% is possible thanks to the National Bank of Poland’s successful investments over the past two years,” Szefernaker wrote.
The coalition opens fire
The “Polish SAFE 0%” project has faced broad criticism from the ruling camp and its media supporters, even though the details of the president’s proposal are not yet fully known.
“I don’t know, Poles don’t know, and it seems that Mr. Glapiński himself still doesn’t know [where the PLN 185 billion will come from]. I listened to yesterday’s press conference with Mr. Glapiński and the president. To be honest – zero specifics. It looks like a marketing slogan. A 0% loan always sounds good. Payday lenders advertise themselves that way too. But I didn’t hear any concrete details,” said Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński from Civic Platform (PO).
“For me, yesterday’s appearance by the president and the head of the National Bank of Poland is not about strengthening Poland’s security or increasing available funds. It is simply a reaction to the problem the president faces with vetoing or not vetoing SAFE. It looks unprepared and raises many doubts,” said Tomasz Siemoniak, Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, also from Civic Platform (PO).
“So when will the National Bank of Poland begin selling gold and when will the money appear in the treasury to finance investments? When will we learn the timetable of actions and decisions?” asked Dominika Wielowieyska, a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza and TOK FM.
Her question received a response from Szefernaker.
“Calm down. No need to get nervous, Ms. Editor. First there will be a meeting with the prime minister and the head of the Ministry of National Defence because, as President Nawrocki indicated, cooperation is needed here. I understand the frustration that there were no leaks and no time to prepare an attack, but the cabinet of President Karol Nawrocki will not prepare political proposals for the president in response to what opponents, the media, or the latest political quarrel impose. The president will present his own proposals, according to his own principles, and at a pace determined by the interests of the state,” the Head of the Presidential Cabinet said.
The criticism from the ruling coalition was also addressed by Adam Andruszkiewicz, Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
“The scale of foreign political and media influence in Poland has not been so openly visible for a long time. Instead of a substantive discussion about the President’s proposal – a massive, furious attack,” Andruszkiewicz said.