Radosław Sikorski responded on 14 August to the entry of president Karol Nawrocki about support for Polish soldiers. The head of the MFA recalled a March veto against the SAFE debt Act. The dispute shows that military slogans rapidly collide with the question of sovereignty and real defence money.
Entry before the army holiday
President Karol Nawrocki published a recording of the gathering with the military and declared that he was always on the side of Polish soldiers. Radosław Sikorski briefly replied, "Unless you gotta sign the SAFE Act". It was an allusion to the decision of 12 March 2026 erstwhile the president refused to sign the law related to the EU's defence debt instrument.
In safety policy, words matter, but accounts substance more. Nawrocki consistently puts the substance of financial and military sovereignty, and the Tusk government wants to present EU loans as a simple consequence to the needs of the army. This is where there is simply a dispute: whether Poland is to strengthen defence on Brussels terms or build its own, tougher mechanics of military funding.
WETO SAFE as an inflammatory point
On the President's Chancellery website there is information that Karol Nawrocki refused to sign the Act of 27 February 2026 on the Financial Instrument for Increase in Safety of SAFE. The president argued at the time that the mechanics could make financing dependent on the conditions imposed by Brussels, and Poland would inactive gotta repay the debt.
That's the point. If safety is to be financed by an instrument which is effectively controlled by the EU institutions, then the question of sovereignty is not organization decoration. The question is who determines Polish debt, Polish purchases and the Polish army at the time of crisis. In the text about Karol Nawrocki wants to change the model of presidencyWe have already written that the president is trying to build an office more active towards the government. SAFE became 1 of the toughest tests of this line.
The government wants a simple charge.
Sikorski chose a customs political catch: to put together a declaration of solidarity with soldiers with veto against the defence bill. specified a message looks good on social media. It is worse to ask whether all EU backing is automatically good for Poland.
National realism requires 2 things at once: a strong army and the state's resilience to external blackmail. Poland cannot pretend that a debt with an EU stamp is the same as its own fund, its own manufacture and its own political decision. Especially after the experience of a dispute with Brussels, where money was utilized as a tool of pressure.
Rate for Poland
For the Polish soldier the most crucial are equipment, ammunition, training and clear command. For the Polish taxpayer: so that the safety account does not mean giving up another part of decision-making. In this case, the government is trying to close the debate with the slogan: who is against SAFE, it harms the army. That's not enough.
Sikorski's dispute with Nawrock reveals a larger problem of current power. Warsaw may participate in European programmes, but it must not confuse cooperation with submission. The Polish army is to defend Poland, not the political comfort of any minister and not the accounting interests of Brussels.
Source: WP News, Office of the president of the Republic of Poland.
Source: WP News
