Polish President Nawrocki rejects EU €44 billion defense-loan bill

Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Tuesday refused to sign a law that would allow Poland to access almost €44 billion in preferential EU defense loans, setting up a standoff with the government’s national security agenda. In a statement from his office, Nawrocki said it would be wrong to make Poland more dependent on Brussels and that he would instead back a different approach for funding further defense investment.

Nawrocki proposed an alternative draft law, according to his office, that points to Polish national resources that could be used rather than European loans. The president’s move comes as Poland’s political leadership has been working to expand defense capacity since Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine began in 2022, with successive governments boosting spending.

The government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk supported coordinating with the European Union, while Nawrocki has emerged as a leading opponent of the executive since taking office last year, repeatedly vetoing laws proposed by the government. Nawrocki’s office said the president has until March 20 to decide whether he will ultimately veto the government’s law on the EU defense loan.

The loans are part of the European Union’s broader €150 billion program dubbed SAFE, or Security Action for Europe. Poland had been set to be the largest beneficiary of SAFE, a package designed to boost European defense readiness at a time when the United States has been diminishing its role in the continent’s security.

The Polish government prepared a list of 139 projects it intends to finance with the SAFE funds, with 30 projects dedicated to strengthening Poland’s eastern borders. The government also said it would allocate 80% of the money to domestic industry, presenting the program as a way to accelerate investment while supporting local defense production.

Nawrocki and the opposition Law and Justice party, known as PiS, have criticized Poland’s participation in SAFE. They have argued that the funds come with EU conditions that could increase Poland’s dependence on Germany and that the program encourages purchases from European manufacturers at the expense of U.S. producers, according to the AP report.

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński said last month that “Polish independence has no price,” and that “What they propose to us is a Poland under the German boot, and we are rejecting this German boot.” The AP report also said the United States has publicly criticized SAFE, raising concerns about how EU defense initiatives restrict market access for American companies.

In February, U.S. ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder and U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker wrote in an opinion piece published by POLITICO Europe. They argued that programs like SAFE and the European Defense Industry Program “undermine collective defense” by limiting competition, stifling innovation, and depriving U.S. companies of necessary orders.

Tusk responded to Nawrocki’s resistance to SAFE by saying he could not understand “how, in a situation with global conflicts and war on our border, someone can think about blocking such things as SAFE, those billions for the Polish army and arms industry.” He added that “But no matter how striking that is, we will surely prepare a plan B,” with the government saying it could still take advantage of SAFE if Nawrocki vetoes the law, though under more restrictive conditions.