Despite the presidential veto, the government intends to draw on funds from the EU’s SAFE regulation. The opposition is raising the alarm about risks embedded in the loan, while the government’s plenipotentiary for SAFE, Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, adds: “preliminary talks about SAFE II are emerging within EU institutions”.
President Karol Nawrocki decided to veto the law implementing the EU’s SAFE defense loan program. The justification cited, among other things, the risk of undermining state sovereignty and transferring part of security-related competences to European Union institutions. SAFE is an EU loan program for European defense, from which Poland is expected to borrow approximately €44 billion.
According to a resolution adopted by the government, the officials authorized to sign the agreements are Finance Minister Andrzej Domański and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
A number of EU countries have opted out of SAFE – including Finland, which has the longest land border with Russia among all EU and NATO members. As Sobkowiak-Czarnecka argues, in light of the conflict in the Middle East, EU leaders have become more inclined toward multi-billion-euro loans.
Will There Be SAFE II?
Asked in the PAP Studio about a potential SAFE II – a continuation of the program supporting defense investments by member states – Sobkowiak-Czarnecka replied that preliminary discussions on the matter are emerging within EU institutions. As she noted, some countries, particularly in southern Europe, in August 2025 did not see the need to participate in the program, claiming that the issue of armaments “did not concern them”.
“After the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, those same countries returned to the European Commission, knocking and asking whether there will be SAFE II, or whether there is any money left in SAFE, because they would be eager to borrow,” she argued. As an example, she pointed to Cyprus, which – as she noted – has become part of tensions related to the Middle East conflict.
However, Sobkowiak-Czarnecka emphasized that the discussion on SAFE II is currently preliminary in nature. In her view, priority is given to negotiations on the new European Union budget.
“The new budget will appear in 2028, that is in two years. So SAFE is a kind of bridge, and we will essentially spend these SAFE funds by 2028. Today we are also focusing on negotiation efforts to ensure that as much funding for defense as possible is included in the EU budget after 2028,” said the government’s plenipotentiary for SAFE.
As TV Republika reported, Anna Bryłka, an MEP from the Confederation, explained that SAFE funds must be contracted at a rapid pace by the end of May this year if the Polish government intends to carry out purchases independently.