The SAFE mechanism could paralyze the modernization of the Polish army and become a tool of German pressure on Warsaw, warns Professor Piotr Grochmalski.
Political scientist and foreign policy expert Professor Piotr Grochmalski, in an interview with Łukasz Jankowski on Radio Wnet, cited by Do Rzeczy, assessed that the €44 billion loan under the SAFE mechanism is a trap that could paralyze the modernization of the Polish army and become a tool for Berlin to exert pressure on Warsaw.
“Everything was clear when the German ambassador appeared in the Polish parliament. Germany is literally trying to force this loan on Poland. However, this loan is being criticized by Germany itself,” he said.
“The secret report for the Bundestag not only pointed out that this structure violates the foundations of the European Union’s legal system, but is also a dangerous tool for EU centralization,” the expert added.
Poland is facing an internal dispute over the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program. Launched in 2025, SAFE is meant to provide €150 billion in long-term, low-interest loans through 2030 for joint purchases of weapons and other military equipment to help boost the bloc’s defense capabilities and military sector. Poland is expected to be its largest beneficiary, receiving over €40 billion.
There are some requirements tied to the use of the loan. Equipment purchased must be made in Europe, while the money can be withdrawn over violations of a conditionality mechanism, e.g., rule of law concerns.
While Prime Minister Tusk has been pushing hard for the loan, President Nawrocki is urging caution, not only the terms of the loan but also because he and his constituents feel it is mostly favorable to Germany.
Confederation politician and deputy speaker of the Sejm, Krzysztof Bosak, also weighed in on the matter on X, wrtiing: “As in the case of the KPO, the European Commission has absolute power here, and if the Brussels oligarchs do not like, for example, the government elected by Poles in the next elections, the SAFE funds can be immediately blocked. This alone is reason enough not to fall into this trap,” Bosak wrote.
Meanwhile, Grochmalski stated that “only an idiot would build their security system on something that is already being questioned, even by Germany itself. At any moment, when the Germans see that the Poles aren’t listening to them, that they’re pursuing their own interests, not Germany’s, the Germans will be able to derail our entire Polish army modernization project, and we’ll be back where we started.”
“SAFE, through the outcry it has caused, has already caused a secondary paralysis of various projects, and that’s essentially the point,” he continued, claiming that SAFE “will provide a pretext for the Tusk government to demolish the entire current project of modernizing the Polish army, to blow it up.”
Grochmalski also noted that a growing Polish army is not in Germany’s interest, as it constitutes a serious political argument and gives Warsaw a certain level of independence, which in turn contradicts Berlin’s vision of a centralized Europe governed by Germany.
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