Poland’s nationalist President Karol Nawrocki on Thursday vetoed his country’s participation in a major military upgrade funded by EU loans that has already been approved by parliament.
Lawmakers in Poland, the largest country on NATO’s eastern flank, last month backed the Security Action For Europe (SAFE) scheme, which would bring nearly 44 billion euros ($50.5 billion) in loans.
The money is earmarked for air and missile defenses, anti-drone technology, and other equipment, as war rages in neighboring Ukraine.
“I have decided not to sign the law that would allow Poland to take out the so-called ‘Safe’ loan. I will never sign a law that undermines our sovereignty, our independence, as well as our economic and military security,” Nawrocki said in a televised address.
Nawrocki has been locked in a fiery row with the pro-European government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who denounced the veto.
“The president has missed the chance to behave like a patriot. A disgrace!” he wrote on X.
His spokesperson, meanwhile, denounced “an act of national treason.”
In response to the growing threat from Russia, Poland has upped its defense budget to 4.8 percent of its GDP, one of the highest in NATO.
The government hailed the SAFE scheme as a big win for Poland, set to get nearly a third of the total 150-billion-euro ($172 billion) pot.
Tusk has called an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Friday at 9:00 am (08:00 GMT) in response to the veto.
