It is not only the December 13 Coalition that is attacking the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, and the Law and Justice party for expressing concerns related to the EU loan mechanism under the SAFE program. A German journalist, writing in “Sueddeutsche Zeitung,” states that “the Polish president and the right-wing nationalist party PiS are rejecting advantageous EU loans for new weapons systems,” claiming that they threaten the country’s independence.
German press on President Nawrocki and PiS opposing SAFE
German journalist Viktoria Grossmann, in “Sueddeutsche Zeitung,” recalled that during the vote in the Sejm, the opposition, composed of the “right-wing nationalist” PiS and the “far-right” Confederation party, voted against the SAFE program. This would not have been of much significance had the president’s signature not been required for the bill to enter into force.
“Karol Nawrocki has not exercised his office in a nonpartisan manner from the outset; he is close to PiS, plays the role of Tusk’s opponent, and consistently vetoes the government’s bills,”
we read in “SZ.”
“Nawrocki believes that the SAFE program threatens Poland’s security and limits the country’s sovereignty,”
Grossmann writes.
The German journalist cites PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński’s opinion that “what is being proposed to us is a Poland under the German boot, and we reject that boot.”
Another argument raised by the president’s office and other PiS and Confederation politicians concerns the conditionality of loans under the SAFE program. The opposition fears that the European Union could block the disbursement of loans should it regain power. These political circles also object to the fact that the funds are to be spent within the EU, which would limit arms procurement from the United States.