Polish Defense Minister warns opposition and president during parliamentary debate over SAFE program funding.
Opposition and President Criticized
During Friday’s parliamentary session, Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz spoke after Head of the Presidential Chancellery Zbigniew Bogucki. Bogucki criticized Prime Minister Donald Tusk for being too gentle in his criticism of Karol Nawrocki regarding the SAFE law veto.
“All of you, the rest of you… have been like hounds unleashed against President Nawrocki for standing in Poland’s interest,” stated Bogucki.
Defense Spending and National Security
Head of the Ministry of National Defense warned: “Withdraw from this path, because history will not forgive you for this.” He questioned where they were when the largest historical budget for the Polish army was voted on in Parliament.
“We are at a point in history where there has been a full-scale war in Ukraine for four years, and for the past dozen days, a very serious conflict in the Middle East. The defense industry still lacks sufficient strength. Poland, as the first example, achieved 5% spending on armaments, but it’s still too little,” emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister.
Government’s Commitment to Security
“Your obsession, your hatred for us, for building a secure Poland, is so strong and insane in its action and hypocritical that you are willing to vote even against modernizing the Polish army, and that is what the SAFE program is,” stated the Minister of National Defense.
Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that based on existing regulations, the government expects inflows from NBP profits by Saturday. “I promise we will allocate them to security,” he declared.