Prime Minister: Those who say that the SAFE veto is a precursor to Polexit are more and more right

Those who say that President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the bill implementing the EU SAFE mechanism is a precursor to Polexit are, unfortunately, more and more right, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday.

The head of government said on TVP Info on Friday evening that “what is happening in politics thanks to President Nawrocki and the opposition men” is a “very dangerous situation.”

– Today I am not prone to dictation, to anecdotes, but the issue is of fundamental importance. And it's not about the president's veto itself, but about whether there is really anything to be afraid of in connection with what has happened with Polish politics on the right, Tusk said.

The veto announced by the president – according to the prime minister – is “a key stage of this great turn made by president (PiS, Jarosław) Kaczyński, and which led President Nawrocki by the hand towards questioning the great project.” In Tusk's opinion, the “anti-European campaign”, which he believes Kaczyński started, has put the president in an impossible situation.

When asked whether such a policy would result in leaving the European Union in the future, the head of government replied that “those who say that this is a prelude to Polexit, to Poland's exit from the European Union, are unfortunately more and more right.”

Loans from SAFE are big money on much better terms than PiS loans from South Korea or the USA, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He stressed, however, that he “will not curse” his predecessors for those decisions, because he knows that they made them in a situation that required quick reactions.

On Friday, on TVP Info, Prime Minister Tusk referred to the EU SAFE defense loan program and President Karol Nawrocki's announcement of a veto of the bill implementing this program. The Prime Minister said that “this loan, this loan for Armed Poland – European SAFE, is big money on many times better terms than PiS loans from South Korea or the USA.”

– Poland must arm itself; I have never attacked PiS for taking out a loan in South Korea with twice the interest rate (…). The loans that PiS took out for military equipment during its rule will burden Poland's debt for many years, for generations. But I will not curse them for it, because I know that it was a situation that required quick decisions, emphasized the Prime Minister.

As he said, “not all of them were wise, but in the situation we are in today – war, Russian aggression, perhaps a future US-China conflict, war in Iran, and so on, we must build at least the basic elements of community.”

– This is a veto, this is a denunciation of the great agreement of all Poles that we concluded (…), which included our Pope, the entire Solidarity and post-communists – and everyone understood that Poland must be embedded in the Western community, in NATO, the EU, and must build the best possible relations with its neighbors. This is what President Nawrocki and President (Jarosław) Kaczyński are trying to overturn before our eyes. That's why this matter is so serious – Tusk said. (PAP)

mml/ rbk/

from/ rbk/