“Poland, by so eagerly joining this program, is reducing itself to the role of a fool who accepts a voucher to a German tank shop,” writes editor Michał Rachoń, commenting on the controversy surrounding the EU arms program SAFE. The journalist from TV Republika came to the defense of the head of the National Security Bureau, Sławomir Cenckiewicz, who has faced a wave of criticism from the ruling camp for his skepticism toward what is formally an EU initiative but in practice a Berlin-driven one.
The issue of the EU program SAFE (Security Action for Europe) and Poland’s participation in it has sparked heated debate. Fuel was added to the fire by attacks on the head of the National Security Bureau, Sławomir Cenckiewicz, who expressed doubts about the wisdom of redirecting funding streams for weapons from the US and Korea to EU products, which are mostly German (Germany has the strongest arms industry in the EU, so German companies will earn the most from orders financed by these loans). Today, Michał Rachoń spoke out on the matter on platform X.
Berlin-Moscow: The axis of threat
In his post, Rachoń recalls historical conditions that should serve as a warning to decision-makers in Warsaw. He notes that Poland’s geopolitical location on the “Berlin-Moscow highway” forces us to maintain our own independent defense capabilities.
“Over the past 300 years, German states, in their various forms, have attacked and militarily invaded Poland on average every 70 years,” the publicist notes.
According to Rachoń, the key to survival is possessing the tools to protect against aggression from both directions. Meanwhile, entering into military arrangements dependent on Berlin is repeating the mistakes of the past.
A dependence mechanism like with the Recovery and Resilience Facility
The program director of TV Republika mercilessly dissects the financial mechanism behind the EU proposal. He warns that participation in SAFE threatens “economic and financial dependence on Germany.”
“Because it will be Berlin that holds – just as in the case of the Recovery and Resilience Facility – its finger on the trigger of this mechanism,” Rachoń writes.
The journalist uses a highly vivid comparison to assess the stance of the current government. According to him, by entering into this arrangement, Poland “reduces itself to the role of a fool who accepts a voucher to a German tank shop and gladly agrees to pay for that voucher with real money – moreover, borrowed for 40 years from the owner of that shop.”
The result? We will be forced to repay interest in Berlin, unable even to shop in another country, and in the event of a political dispute – as Rachoń notes – “we will have no chance of even collecting the tanks themselves.” Importantly, Germany itself does not intend to use loans under this program, as it can raise funds on the markets on better terms.
Defense of Cenckiewicz and an attack on “FürDeutschland”
Michał Rachoń’s post is a direct response to the attacks directed at Sławomir Cenckiewicz. Let us recall that the head of the National Security Bureau faced criticism from, among others, Jakub Wenda, who accused him of a “novel approach to the issue of patriotism” for promoting purchases from the US instead of Europe.
Rachoń stands firmly behind the head of the National Security Bureau.
“Sławomir Cenckiewicz is, of course, right in his concerns, and no responsible politician should agree to Poland’s participation in the SAFE program,” we read in Michał Rachoń’s post.
At the same time, the journalist sharply criticizes Prime Minister Donald Tusk, using the telling hashtag #FürDeutschland. He suggests that the head of government is pleased with German instructions that led to “the decision on this harmful and dangerous financial ‘tsunami’ being taken.”