“I fully support the words of Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, head of the National Security Bureau, that the conditionality principle is a ‘nuclear weapon’ that could blow up the financing of the army’s development through the SAFE loan mechanism,” wrote former Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak on social media today.
Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, head of the National Security Bureau, said a few days ago on Polsat News that the conditionality mechanism applied to the SAFE loan “is a nuclear weapon.”
“In point 35 of the regulation on SAFE, there is a reference to the relevant regulation of the European Parliament, which in a long catalogue simply states that the issue of European funds depends on how a given state implements policies concerning, let us say, justice, human rights, and so on, and so forth,” Cenckiewicz said.
“It is a nuclear weapon that will be hanging somewhere over this huge loan,” he stressed.
The government side argues that the conditionality mechanism concerns only “the proper spending of funds.” This position was presented, among others, by Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. His thesis was countered by Michał Rachoń, programme director of TV Republika.
Today, Prof. Cenckiewicz’s position was supported by Mariusz Błaszczak, former head of the Ministry of National Defence.
“SAFE is plugged into exactly the same EU ‘conditionality’ regime as the National Recovery Plan (KPO). When the European Commission decides that alleged breaches of the rule of law affect or threaten to affect the spending of EU funds, it may launch a procedure leading to the suspension of payments or the withholding of loan tranches,” Błaszczak assessed.
He added that “if the European Commission concludes that the rule of law is under threat (as it may assess politically), it can initiate the mechanism and lead to a decision to block or limit the flow of funds.”
“SAFE can also be suspended – for example under the slogan of an ‘alleged lack of the rule of law.’ Making the modernisation of the army and defence capabilities dependent on Brussels’ whims is a bad solution. Poland’s security cannot be a hostage to political pressure,” the former defence minister stated.