Sławomir Cenckiewicz, Head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), gave an interview to Radio Wnet in which he addressed the issue of a very costly loan under the SAFE program. “The matter of conditionality is fairly concealed; one regulation refers us to a European Parliament regulation, and only there do we find the potential risks,” said Prof. Cenckiewicz.
On Tuesday, Sławomir Cenckiewicz, Head of the National Security Bureau, spoke to Radio Wnet, focusing primarily on his position regarding the SAFE program.
At the outset, he posed a question to himself as to whether PLN 188 billion is money the Polish armed forces need and shared his reservations.
“Yes, the Polish army needs such substantial funds. However, I have doubts regarding the sovereignty aspect, to what extent the SAFE program allows us to spend the funds freely in the context of the principle of conditionality. There is an ongoing discussion with the government side; talks are underway, and we are being assured that the principle of conditionality, which applied and became the source of major conflicts between the European Union and Poland in the case of the National Recovery Plan (KPO), does not apply here. I have doubts about that,”
Cenckiewicz stated.
The Head of the BBN admitted that conditionality is somewhat concealed; one regulation refers to a European Parliament regulation, and it is only there that the potential threats are identified.
“We are not in a position to eliminate this through any preamble or any act of a collective declaration by the Senate or the Sejm. The entire weight of the President’s future decision, the political decision regarding SAFE, in my view, rests on the issue of conditionality. Everything else can be amended, discussed, although I also have doubts about that, but this appears to be the most important issue. It is said that the conditionality mechanism applied to SAFE does not concern political or ideological matters, nor the judiciary, but rather the discipline of European funds. However, we know that this risk exists,”
the presidential minister argued.
The professor added that, as a state official, he will seek to amend the legislation for as long as possible. He also devoted several remarks to what he described as propaganda emanating in recent days from pro-government media outlets.
“The latest propagandistic narrative explaining why we should adopt SAFE very quickly and why the President should sign it is that there is a war and we have deficits in the security of Polish airspace, therefore, SAFE must be adopted. At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz is saying how many Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles, Piorun missile systems, and so on, will be purchased under SAFE. In my view, this does not add up, but that is, of course, political propaganda, to which everyone is entitled. I also have logical doubts as to whether the SAFE program has been properly incorporated into the Armed Forces Development Program, which runs until 2039, while SAFE funds must be spent, that is, specific items must be ordered and purchased, by 2030,”
Cenckiewicz said on Radio Wnet.,
He also criticized the European Union, which, in his view, does not currently possess “such technological capabilities, intellectual resources, or advantages in the domains that are essential for Poland.”
“These include, among other things, the security of Polish airspace, battlefield targeting, or enemy reconnaissance. It is no coincidence that we have Redzikowo, the American missile defense shield, rather than a German or French one,”
Cenckiewicz explained.