President Karol Nawrocki, during a meeting in Chmielnik, spoke among other things about the reasons for vetoing the SAFE Act. “Taking on an obligation until 2070, also on behalf of the wonderful children and young people standing here with us, is a commitment too serious to sign such a loan,” the president assessed.
President Nawrocki appealed to the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, to unblock the presidential legislative initiatives, as they contain solutions beneficial for Polish society. This also concerns the SEJF 0% project.
He emphasized that he made the decision regarding the EU’s SAFE program in a sovereign manner and in the interest of the Polish people.
“I believe that decisions concerning Poland’s freedom, sovereignty, security, the development of the Polish armed forces, and the defense industry are decisions for the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, not for Brussels and not for the European Union,” he said.
“We cannot give away sovereignty”
He recalled that he had promised this during the election campaign in nearly 400 locations. He stressed that Poland wants to remain part of the EU, but that “there are limits to the centralization of the European Union,” limits defined by both Polish and EU law. Nawrocki added that the SAFE program is inconsistent with Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union as well as with the Polish Constitution.
“We cannot hand over sovereignty, decision-making, or security to the European Union, because the fundamental law of Poland does not allow it,”
he said.
“We made every effort to work on this draft law so that we could benefit from European funds in a way that would not dismantle Poland’s constitutional system. It was not possible to refine it to a level at which we could say that our sovereignty would be preserved. Taking on an obligation until 2070, also on behalf of the wonderful children and young people standing here with us, is a commitment too serious to sign such a loan,”
the president said.
He pointed out that it is unknown what the EU will look like in several decades. In his view, Poland cannot “get stuck” in a program that does not allow freedom in strategic thinking about the country’s security. He emphasized that flexibility is needed, and that such flexibility is provided by the SEJF 0% program.