The president has an alternative. He proposes “SAFE 0 percent” to the government. Will it be financed by the National Bank of Poland?
The head of the PiS club, former Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, assessed that the National Bank of Poland has grounds to finance activities such as “SAFE 0 percent”. This is not a politically conditioned loan, he emphasized.
Finding a favorable, sovereign, safe, good and effective alternative to the SAFE program was the topic of the meeting with the President of NBP, Adam Glapiński – said President Karol Nawrocki after the meeting with the President of NBP.
During the press conference, President Karol Nawrocki repeated his doubts regarding the SAFE program. He said, among other things: that it will be repaid by 2070. In his opinion, the SAFE program is also “incompatible with Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union, where security obviously belongs to the Member States of the European Union, and not to the European Union itself.”
– The war in Iran and the recent operations of the United States also show what they show: it is primarily the effectiveness of American equipment – emphasized Nawrocki.
As the president explained, his meeting with the president of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, took place “to find a favorable, sovereign, safe, good and effective alternative to SAFE.”
– Today, after weeks of expert meetings at the Chancellery of the President, but also after the actions of the President of the National Bank of Poland, President Adam Glapiński (…) we discussed the Polish SAFE 0%. – said Karol Nawrocki.
Nawrocki also mentioned the disadvantages of the SAFE program, among others: conditionality of disbursement of funds, emphasizing that “the scope of conditionality included in SAFE is a threat to the stabilization and development of the Polish armed forces.”
The president proposes SAFE 0%.
President Karol Nawrocki said that on Wednesday he would send a letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz with an invitation to a meeting on SAFE 0%.
– Today I will send a letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz, inviting them to a meeting about the Polish SAFE 0%. (…) After today's meeting with Professor (NBP President Adam) Glapiński, after specialists' analyses, I have no doubt that due to the stability of the development of the Polish armed forces, due to financial issues, due to legal issues, Polish SAFE 0 percent. is better for the Polish armed forces than European SAFE with the burdens that are discussed in the Polish public opinion – said President Karol Nawrocki.
President Karol Nawrocki emphasized that he had not yet discussed the details of spending under SAFE 0%, an alternative to the SAFE program that he proposed on Wednesday. He assured that these funds will be spent on what is most needed by the Polish army, without “certain ties” that apply to SAFE.
Nawrocki was asked whether the expenses under the alternative he proposed, i.e. SAFE 0%. – will they coincide with the arms purchase plans planned for the SAFE program and whether most of the funds from this program would be spent in Poland. – We didn't talk about such details. However, these financial resources should be – and will certainly be spent – on what is most needed by the Polish army, without certain ties that surround the European SAFE program – replied the president.
– If we believe that American F-35 planes are good for the Polish armed forces and are the most technologically developed in the world, then we could buy them from the Polish SAFE program, either with military ammunition or with the entire range of military equipment – added Nawrocki.
He also assured that such a program will provide “deeply further flexibility for potential investments”, will enable us to flexibly respond to the needs of the Polish armed forces and will be compatible with the last decade of purchases, without bearing financial burdens regarding conditionality or political burdens.
Kosiniak: We are counting on the signature. Any other program is a plus for the military
The head of the Ministry of National Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, emphasized that everyone who cares about strengthening the Polish army is counting on the president's signature on the SAFE Act. As he added, if further instruments of financing the army appear as additional funds, and not as an alternative, the Polish Army will benefit from it.
The SAFE program provides the fastest and specific funds for the modernization of the Polish army, which is why the military, the arms industry and everyone who cares about strengthening the strength of our army are appealing and counting on the signature of the act by @presidentpl.
However, if there are more…
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) March 4, 2026
Financing from the profit of the National Bank of Poland?
The head of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, who was present at the conference, was asked about the reserve assets from which the central bank plans to finance SAFE 0%. – We cannot use any part of the reserves (…) in the sense that part of the reserves will be transferred, because it is against the law. (…) There will be time for details and we will report them – said Glapiński.
– For example, profit, for the most part, 95 percent. we give to the government. It is used for a specific purpose. In this case, we expect that the purpose is to strengthen Polish defense – added Glapiński.
The National Bank of Poland is ready to cooperate with the government and the president regarding the “Polish SAFE 0 percent” program. – assured on Wednesday the President of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapiński, during a press conference with the participation of President Karol Nawrocki. He added that the central bank's reserves are “the reserves of all Poles.”
– We are ready to cooperate with the government and the president – said Adam Glapiński during a press conference on the “Polish SAFE 0%” program, which took place after the meeting of the President of the NBP with President Karol Nawrocki.
– Our currency reserves are the reserves of all Poles. These are Poland's reserves placed under the management of the National Bank of Poland, Glapiński said. He expressed hope that cooperation with the government on the program “will be very good.” (PAP)
Expert: I feel it's a veto pad
I am afraid that the initiative of the president and the president of the NBP is a basis for a veto regarding the SAFE program – Jarosław Wolski, a military analyst running the Defense Channel, told PAP. He emphasized that the president's proposal regarding “SAFE 0 percent” You will be able to fully evaluate it once you know all the details. – SAFE loans have an interest rate that is more than twice as cheap as those taken out in South Korea for the purchase of Korean armament and are measurably cheaper than loans taken out in the United States – said Jarosław Wolski in an interview with PAP. – Personally, I am very afraid that the initiative of the president and Mr. Glapiński is actually a basis for a veto (to the bill implementing the EU SAFE program) on the part of the president. That is, showing that we have an alternative, but if the government does not agree, we veto it. Unfortunately, I have this feeling – he added.
Sobkowiak-Czarnecka: Great news. We can use both programs
The Polish “SAFE 0%”, i.e. the alternative to the EU SAFE proposed by President Karol Nawrocki, is great news for the army; can thus receive additional money for purchases, among others. in the USA – said Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, government representative for the SAFE program.
Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, asked in the Polsat News program about the government's opinion on the president's idea, said that “it is very good information.” – Very good. If there's extra money, great. (..) I think that this is great news for the Polish army, for our security, because it turns out that (we will receive – PAP) twice as much funds (…) – she added.
She explained that in addition to the application for funding from the EU SAFE in the amount of approximately EUR 43.7 billion, i.e. almost PLN 200 billion, an additional reserve list was also created for entities whose purchase would amount to “EUR 15 billion, i.e. approximately PLN 80 billion”. She pointed out that the president talked about spending the Polish “SAFE 0 percent”. among others in the United States, and – as she emphasized – the funds from the EU program would be spent in Europe.
– I can immediately give the president the list that the Polish army has prepared as a reserve list for the SAFE mechanism. (…) If there are additional funds, the list of what they should be spent on is already ready. And this is not a list of anyone from the government, it is a list prepared by the General Staff, she emphasized.
To the comment that the president's proposal could be used as a reason to veto the EU SAFE bill, Sobkowiak-Czarnecka replied that she “does not see it as an alternative, but as a complement.” – (Government – PAP) from the SAFE mechanism talks about expenses in the Polish arms industry. The president is talking about spending overseas – these are two compatible systems – she concluded.
Błaszczak: NBP has grounds for such a loan
President Karol Nawrocki and the head of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, announced on Wednesday “Polish SAFE 0 percent”, which is to be an alternative to the EU defense loan program. The president announced that on Wednesday he would send an invitation to a meeting to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the head of the Ministry of National Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. – If necessary, I will take legislative initiative – said Nawrocki.
Błaszczak was asked about the president's proposal on Wednesday during a meeting with the residents of Kartuzy. In his opinion, “the process of arming the Polish Army has been stopped under Donald Tusk's rule.”
– We need money. And so, the National Bank of Poland, excellently run by prof. Glapiński, has grounds to provide credit for such activities. These 700 tons of gold are already a strong basis for using these financial reserves. So that they constitute the basis for the development of the Polish army. This is not some politically conditioned loan, like the SAFE loan, he said.
Political scientist: The president is looking for a justification for the veto
This is an attempt to justify the president's possible veto to SAFE and proof of strong political pressure on the president from PiS – political scientist Anna Materska-Sosnowska told PAP when asked about President Karol Nawrocki's “SAFE 0 percent” proposal.
Political scientist Dr. Anna Materska-Sosnowska from the University of Warsaw believes that the proposal may be an attempt to solve the image problem related to President Karol Nawrocki's possible veto of the SAFE Act. – This is an attempt to get out of the situation that PiS itself got into by calling for a veto on SAFE, and is trying to involve the president as well. There is no political justification for a potential veto, with 80 percent of respondents in most surveys supporting the SAFE Act, not against it. Therefore, it will not be explainable if the president vetoes the bill, said the political scientist.
In her opinion, PiS could “use President Glapiński” as a form of pressure on the president to veto SAFE. Materska-Sosnowska points out that the latest online research shows that with its anti-SAFE rhetoric, PiS outperformed Confederation and Braun's Korona in the anti-European electorate, which made the opposition politically effective for the party. – Therefore, I understand that President Jarosław Kaczyński is trying to subdue the president, and the agreement with Adam Glapiński also serves this purpose – said the political scientist.
– If I were the Prime Minister, I would of course accept this money, although the National Bank of Poland does not have external money, only ours. So if we spend it on armaments, we will not be able to spend it on anything else. The Prime Minister may argue that since the NBP has such surpluses that it can lend them, he should add them, to put it simply, to the budget – noted the political scientist.
In her opinion, the president's situation is even more difficult because the argument he used that we should rely on American weapons “is falling apart day by day.” – The president can say that American weapons are the best, but everything indicates that the United States will soon have to ask its allies for help in the conflict with Iran – said Materska-Sosnowska. (PAP)
