“The SAFE fund – apart from posing a threat due to the conditionality mechanism and restrictions on the place of procurement, which from Poland’s perspective are highly detrimental – may also become another opportunity for those in power to commit abuses,” wrote the leader of Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, on the X platform.
Controversy Surrounding the SAFE Program
The EU instrument SAFE, launched in 2025 as part of the “Readiness 2030” agenda, is a €150 billion loan fund intended to strengthen European defense capabilities. The repayment terms and interest rates of the loans remain unclear.
A key condition for financing is the so-called European Content requirement – at least 65 percent of components in a given project must originate from the EU. Although this provision formally aims to strengthen the Union’s strategic autonomy, in practice it limits access to funds for manufacturers from outside the EU, including those from South Korea and the United States, favoring European companies, including German firms. SAFE operates as an instrument regulated under EU law and is subject to the conditionality mechanism.
The Niezalezna.pl portal revealed that the largest beneficiary on the list of projects scheduled for implementation under the SAFE program is a private entity – the company Polska Amunicja. It is headed by former MP of Civic Platform (KO) and parliamentary candidate from its electoral list, Paweł Poncyljusz.
The leader of Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, posted a statement on social media in which he pointed out that “the SAFE fund, apart from posing a threat due to the conditionality principle and restrictions regarding the place of procurement – which from Poland’s perspective are highly detrimental – may also become another opportunity for those in power to commit abuses.” The politician also commented on the information revealed by the portal regarding one of the program’s beneficiaries.
“We all remember the yachts, the grants for ‘their own people,’ and the way funds from the National Recovery Plan were distributed. The media now report that a significant portion of SAFE funds is to go to a privatized company that has no experience or production capacity and may serve merely as an intermediary, skimming off the ‘cream.’”
“The question is: for whom?” the leader of Law and Justice (PiS) concluded.