Polish President Karol Nawrocki effectively put the brakes on the European Union (EU) joint defense financing loan program "SAFE," saying it could restrict purchases of U.S.-made weapons and saddle the country with interest costs from borrowing.
According to Poland's PAP news agency on the 4th, President Nawrocki said at a news conference that, instead of SAFE, he had prepared a separate defense financing plan with the Central Bank that carries no interest burden. Calling the idea "Poland SAFE 0%," he said it would give greater flexibility to the Polish military's weapons procurement decisions.
Earlier, on the 27th, the Polish parliament passed a bill allowing the use of up to €43.7 billion through SAFE. SAFE is a €150 billion joint defense financing tool set up by the EU that supports member states' defense procurement while limiting the share of components from outside the bloc. President Nawrocki has not yet said whether he will give final approval, but by unveiling an alternative, he effectively made his opposition clear.
Poland's right-wing camp has argued that SAFE would expand EU intervention in defense and could make it harder to buy weapons from the United States, its top ally. By contrast, Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-Europe government says SAFE's low-interest funds are essential to strengthening military capabilities amid a growing Russian threat.
Bordering Russia and Belarus, Poland has emerged as one of Europe's emblematic rearming states since the war in Ukraine. According to SIPRI, Poland was among Europe's major importers of major arms in 2020–2024, had the highest dependence on U.S.-made systems among European NATO members as a whole, and also sourced a notable share from Korea. The clash between President Nawrocki and Prime Minister Tusk is thus spilling over into defense procurement.