The remarks came a day after Glapiński and President Karol Nawrocki proposed a national defence funding plan dubbed "SAFE 0%," describing it as an alternative to a European Union loan programme aimed at bolstering the military.
Warsaw stands to be the biggest beneficiary of the EU’s EUR 150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative aimed at strengthening the continent’s armed forces, but the programme has sparked political debate in Poland.
The opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party says SAFE would saddle Poland with debt, limit arms purchases from the United States, and impose conditions that could allow outside interference in Polish affairs, the Reuters news agency reported.
The government has rejected those claims, saying the programme is essential for Poland’s security amid a growing threat from Russia.
However, PiS has urged Nawrocki, its ally, to veto legislation enabling Poland to access the EU loans.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday called on Nawrocki to sign the bill promptly.
“Poland, Polish companies and their employees are waiting for funding from the Polish SAFE programme for the sake of national security," Tusk said, adding that domestic defence plants were "ready to begin production."
Tusk also challenged Glapiński to provide precise information on the National Bank of Poland's "actual financial capacity," noting that the bank had reported multibillion losses rather than profits.
He argued that Polish gold stored abroad should be returned to the country.
Finance Minister Andrzej Domański expressed caution about Nawrocki’s efforts to reach an agreement with the central bank on an alternative funding plan.
“If the NBP generates a high profit and transfers it to the budget—very good. For now, however, not a single zloty has reached the budget from this source for three years,” Domański wrote on X.
He said Poland’s security “cannot depend on one-off operations,” adding that the EU’s SAFE programme “remains the cheapest and best source of funding for defence investment projects.”
Nawrocki has several weeks to decide whether to sign or veto the legislation allowing Poland to participate in SAFE.
The government has said it could try to work around a potential presidential veto, though that could limit how the funds are used.
Nawrocki, appearing alongside Glapiński on Wednesday, said they had discussed a plan to use domestic funds instead of EU loans, but provided no details.
“We intend to propose actions that will not lead to a depletion of our foreign exchange reserves,” Glapiński told a news conference on Thursday. “We have accumulated these reserves for a different purpose.”
He said the central bank could potentially use its profits while remaining within the limits of its mandate.
Glapiński added that the president’s office was working on draft legislation that could expand the central bank’s ability to support defence spending.
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Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters