“This is not about the military at all, nor is it about finances. It is about power, who governs whom. This is a constitutional matter,” Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, adviser to President Karol Nawrocki, said on the air of TV Republika. He warned that the SAFE program, together with the conditionality mechanism, could become “a permanent blackmail mechanism installed in place.”
On Tuesday, EU member states ultimately approved Poland’s investment plan under the SAFE defense program. Poland’s list includes 139 projects. In total, Poland is to borrow nearly €44 billion. However, the detailed terms of repayment, such as the interest rate, remain unclear.
The SAFE program is a financial instrument regulated by EU legal acts, to which the conditionality mechanism also applies.
“It Is About Power”
The adviser to President Karol Nawrocki took a clear position that Poland should reject the SAFE program concept.
“This is not about the military at all, nor is it about finances. It is about power, who governs whom. This is a constitutional matter,”
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski said on TV Republika.
Saryusz-Wolski Warns
“Let us imagine moments arise when Poland should veto certain significant EU measures,” the long-serving EU politician began, giving examples such as an unfavorable EU budget, withdrawal from the ETS, or the allocation of migrant relocation quotas.
“And then Brussels puts a gun to our temple, namely, a freeze on funds for armaments,”
Saryusz-Wolski explained.
“This is about a power grab by Brussels, about depriving us of something we consider non-negotiable; in effect, though not formally, we lose our veto right,” he stressed. He added that this could become “a permanent blackmail mechanism installed in place.” He further argued that the main aim is to “detach, bind, subordinate, and subjugate such a difficult partner as Poland.”
He also recalled that EU politics frequently applies the principle of “issue linkage,” meaning the tying together of seemingly unrelated matters and issues.
The full interview is available on TV Republika’s YouTube channel.