The Sejm has passed the SAFE Act. The vote was preceded by a debate in the plenary chamber.
439 MPs took part in the vote. 236 voted in favor, 199 were against, and four abstained. – The Sejm has passed the Act on the Financial Instrument for Increasing Security – announced Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty in a solemn voice, smiling at opposition politicians at the end. However, there was no euphoric reaction in the chamber, such as usually accompanies major decisions.
Before the vote, a debate was held, with Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz speaking last. He explained that the SAFE program is a way of financing the modernization of the Polish armed forces. “Are you not in favor of the Polish uniform that has drafted the plan to modernize the Polish army?” he asked from the parliamentary rostrum.
He stated that the SAFE program “does not consist of projects imposed by the European Union” and that contractors are not dictated by the EU. “These are applications arising from the needs of the Polish military,” he continued. “If you do not want cheaper financing for purchases, and therefore more purchases and faster purchases for the Polish army, then you are against modernization and against the Polish Army, against the armed forces,” he added.
Warnings About Conditionality
Earlier, a lawmaker from Law and Justice (PiS) and former Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak recalled the existing conditionality mechanism, which – as acknowledged by EU Commissioner Piotr Serafin – also applies to the armaments program.
“Do you want to know what it will be like with the SAFE loan, which you consider manna from heaven? You are rushing toward these loans without a shred of reflection that the EU will soon say: either you accept illegal migrants or they will suspend the payments. Either you declare that there are not two sexes, but you know how many – 240, and the number grows every day – or they will suspend the payments. Either you agree to treaty changes meaning the loss of independence, or they will suspend the payments,” he listed.
“That is what conditionality is about, and that is what you are agreeing to. You want to restrict the Polish Army’s procurement options to a narrow catalogue of armaments indicated by the European Union, instead of using the solutions introduced by PiS, which allow for acquiring such equipment as…” he continued, but Speaker Czarzasty had already switched off his microphone.
The previous military rearmament program assumed that the soldiers themselves would choose the equipment.