Speaking at an impromptu Cabinet meeting in Warsaw, Tusk said the government would adopt a resolution to launch the Polska Zbrojna (Arming Poland) defence investment effort despite a veto by President Karol Nawrocki blocking legislation tied to the SAFE initiative.
Tusk said the alternative path chosen by the government after the veto would be "more difficult" but insisted the programme would still go ahead.
The emergency Cabinet meeting was convened a day after Nawrocki announced he would veto a law implementing the European Union’s SAFE defence financing mechanism.
The legislation would have created a special financial mechanism at state-run Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego to manage EU loans intended to help rapidly increase Poland’s defence capabilities.
Tusk said the government had anticipated the possibility of a veto, which eventually came on the anniversary of Poland's accession to NATO.
The prime minister sharply criticised Nawrocki’s move, saying it would be judged negatively by history and adding that leaders across Europe were surprised by the decision.
"Only Russian newspapers expressed full understanding of the president’s veto," Tusk said.
He argued that Poland had pushed hard within the EU to establish the SAFE mechanism.
“Step by step we persuaded one country after another and finally convinced European institutions to prepare this major financing project,” Tusk said.
He announced that the government would adopt a special resolution enabling the Arming Poland programme to move forward even without the vetoed bill.
“It will be harder, sometimes slower, and it will require much more effort to convince everyone involved because we will not have the appropriate legal provisions,” Tusk said. “But we will do it.”
He said the veto would not stop the government and that the funds would ultimately reach Polish defence companies.
Poland has applied for EUR 43.7 billion (around PLN 186 billion) from the EU’s SAFE programme. The government has said about 89 percent of the funds would go to domestic defence companies.
Nawrocki argued the EU programme would leave Poland indebted for 45 years and warned that interest costs could reach PLN 180 billion.
He also said the EU could potentially suspend funding under conditionality rules while Poland would still have to repay the debt.
Officials in Tusk’s government say the veto will not prevent Poland from accessing EU funds, although it could complicate financing for services such as the police, Border Guard and the State Protection Service (SOP).
Nawrocki and central bank chief Adam Glapiński have proposed an alternative plan dubbed “Polish SAFE 0%,” under which a special defence investment fund would be created and financed by profits from the National Bank of Poland (NBP).
Glapiński has said those profits could come from rising valuations of the central bank’s gold reserves and active management of those reserves.
Tusk dismissed the proposal as unrealistic and said he had little confidence in the plan.