There is a storm online following the revelation of scandalous facts regarding the SAFE program for Romania. Let us recall that the German arms company Rheinmetall allegedly raised the price of its “service” for this Balkan country and did so shortly before signing the contract. “Surprised!? Whenever there is a “subsidy,” everything suddenly becomes more expensive because there is money available and time pressure! It smells fishy!!!” wrote Bogdan Rzońca, a MEP from PiS.
Backed into a corner, the Romanian Minister of National Defence, Radu Miruță, announced that his country will not accept artificial price increases of up to 30 percent demanded by some suppliers before signing SAFE contracts. The minister considers this a form of diktat, especially given that the agreements are supposed to be signed before May 31.
“When we began discussions about SAFE, some private ammunition manufacturers provided a price. Now, as we are close to signing the contract, they are coming back with a price 30 percent higher than the original,” Miruță said. “We will not accept this,” the Romanian politician assured.
Let us recall that last month, the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, vetoed the bill implementing the EU SAFE defence loan program. This decision was met with sharp criticism from the December 13 coalition.
Meanwhile, Romania’s situation as a result of adopting the SAFE program is widely discussed on Polish social media.
“THE TRUTH ABOUT #SAFE IS COMING OUT!! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BUY A PIG IN A POKE!!”
wrote presidential advisor Jacek Saryusz-Wolski.
“Romania is in shock because the projects they prepared as proposals for their SAFE program suddenly cost over 30% more! Surprised!? Whenever there is a ‘subsidy,’ everything magically becomes more expensive because there is money and time pressure! It smells fishy!!!”
wrote PiS MEP Bogdan Rzońca.