“It apparently has to be understood this way: that the European Commission, together with Donald Tusk, will blackmail us in the spring and summer of 2027, saying that we must vote for Tusk, because otherwise they will cut off the SAFE programme and our armaments will be put at risk,” said Confederation leader Sławomir Mentzen, commenting on the issue of the conditionality mechanism in the EU defence loan. In his view, the situation resembles that of the National Recovery Plan (KPO).
The opposition’s doubts regarding the SAFE programme pushed by the government have not subsided. The concerns relate to the lack of specific information about who will receive funds from the loan, uncertainty over anti-corruption safeguards, and the possibility of Poles being subjected to blackmail through the conditionality mechanism.
It was this last aspect that one of the leaders of Confederation, Sławomir Mentzen, highlighted on Thursday. In his opinion, the situation with SAFE is similar to that of the KPO. The issue concerns reforming the state in line with arrangements agreed with the European Union and complying with the rule of law — as understood by Brussels.
The politician recalled that, allegedly due to failure to meet the latter condition, the government of Mateusz Morawiecki did not receive the funds. As soon as the government in Poland changed, the money began to be disbursed, even though the “December 13 coalition” had introduced no legal changes in the area of the judiciary. “The government changed and then the European Commission decided that the rule of law had magically been restored in Poland,” he assessed.
“Since this has already happened to us once — precisely the mechanism we warned about has occurred […] there is a huge risk that it will happen again,” he stated.
Mentzen also referred to Donald Tusk’s speech at the Warsaw Stock Exchange headquarters, in which he addressed the payment of EU funds to Poland. According to the prime minister, “it would have been impossible for the KPO funds or European funds from SAFE to reach Poland if there were not a conviction in Europe and around the world that Polish affairs are truly in good hands.”
“This probably substantiates that our allegations regarding the conditionality mechanism are justified. If the European Commission understands it this way, if Donald Tusk understands it this way, then apparently it must be understood in this way: that the European Commission together with Donald Tusk will blackmail us in the spring and summer of 2027, saying that we must vote for Tusk, because otherwise they will cut off the SAFE programme and our armaments will be put at risk,” he said.