The prime minister’s remarks came after a presidential veto prevented Warsaw from accessing billions in defense loans from the European Union
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stated that there is “a real threat” Poland might exit the EU, following the country’s president vetoing a bill that would have permitted Warsaw to access billions in defense loans from the bloc.
Last week, President Karol Nawrocki vetoed legislation that would have allowed Warsaw to obtain nearly €44 billion ($50 billion) in low-interest EU defense loans—most earmarked for domestic arms manufacturers. In response, the government held an emergency cabinet meeting, empowering its defense and finance ministers to sign the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) agreement directly, thus bypassing the veto.
In a Sunday post on X, Tusk accused right-wing parties (notably the opposition Law and Justice bloc) and Nawrocki himself of pushing for a “Polexit.” He alleged that Russia, former US President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, and European groups led by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán aim to “smash the EU,” warning that such an outcome would be “a catastrophe” for Poland and vowing to take “everything” necessary to prevent it.
Western officials have long leveraged the threat of purported Russian aggression to justify increases in military spending—examples include Brussels’ €800 billion ReArm Europe initiative and NATO members’ commitment to raise defense budgets to 5% of their GDP. Moscow has rejected these claims as “nonsense.”
NATO’s European member states have rushed to meet Washington’s targets, whereas the EU has faced challenges reviving its defense sector and found that buying US weapons for Ukraine is becoming increasingly expensive.
A key tool the EU uses to address all three objectives is the SAFE program. Rolled out by the European Commission last year, it enables the bloc to borrow €150 billion from global markets to fund defense project loans for member states.
The political deadlock between Nawrocki and Tusk is not a recent development. In January 2025, Nawrocki—then an opposition presidential candidate—participated in a farmers’ protest outside the European Commission’s Warsaw office, opposing EU environmental regulations and Ukrainian food imports. Donald Tusk accused him of attempting to drive Poland out of the bloc.