“We want to be SAFE.” Citizens came to the Presidential Palace

President Karol Nawrocki, by presenting the “Polish SAFE 0%” program, attempted to attack the independence of the National Bank of Poland, guaranteed by the constitution – said Jerzy Stępień, former president of the Constitutional Tribunal, in a speech during a demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace on Sunday.

– The Constitution provides for a special position of the National Bank of Poland, an independent state body whose main task is to watch over money to keep inflation under control. What did the president do when he vetoed this bill (implementing the EU SAFE arms financing program – PAP)? Firstly, by presenting his program, he attempted to attack the independence of the National Bank of Poland. We cannot allow this to happen, Stępień said during a demonstration in front of the seat of the President of the Republic of Poland, organized by the Committee for the Defense of Democracy.

The former president of the Constitutional Tribunal in 2006-2008 also referred to the issue of the president's swearing in of six new judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, selected by the Sejm on Friday.

– The Sejm decides who becomes a judge of the Tribunal. The president has no right to question and undermine this. If the president does not swear in the judges within the next three days, it will be proof that he has violated the constitution, Stępień said.

On Sunday, about 2,000 people gathered in front of the Presidential Palace. The demonstrators carried Polish and European Union flags and banners. There were shouts: “we want to be SAFE”, “constitution” and “we will not leave (the EU – PAP)”.

On Thursday, President Karol Nawrocki announced in his message that he would not sign the act implementing the EU SAFE reinforcement mechanism. He stated that he would never sign a bill that “strikes our sovereignty, independence, economic and military security.”

Justifying his decision, he pointed out that SAFE is a loan with a 45-year term and the cost of interest may amount to up to PLN 180 billion. In the president's opinion, “Poles will have to pay back as much as the value of the loan granted, and Western banks and financial institutions will profit from it.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapiński, said during a conference that the NBP may sell part of its gold resources on the London Stock Exchange and use the surplus resulting from the difference between the purchase and sale prices for armaments.

At the beginning of March, President Karol Nawrocki and the head of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, announced the “Polish SAFE 0%” program, which – as the president stated – is to be a “specific, Polish, safe and sovereign alternative for SAFE that will not involve any financial interest.” (PAP)

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