At today's meeting with leaders of parliamentary groups, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will propose a package of solutions which will require changes in the constitution, government spokesperson Piotr Müller said on Monday. He added that said proposals would include removing public debt ceiling on army spending and a possiblity to confiscate assets of Russian oligarchs and state.
The Polish government wants to amend the constitution so that it can raise defence expenditure and confiscate Russian oligarchs' assets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a government spokesman said on Monday.
The Defence of the Fatherland Act adopted this month says that Poland's defence spending will increase to 3% of GDP, which could result in exceeding budgetary thresholds enshrined in the constitution.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met with leaders of parliamentary groups on Monday to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
"Just a moment ago, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has laid a few key points of today's session at the PM's office, pertaining to issues which, in order to be implemented, would require changes in the constitution," government spokesman Piotr Müller said at a press briefing ahead of the meeting.
Three points which require changes in the constitution
"First of all, in the situation in which Russia openly threatens with a direct attack on European Union countries, in prospect also on Poland, and on the Baltics which so far have been enjoying freedom and security, it is Poland's duty to immediately prepare the Polish army for the possibility of such attack.
"The Polish army must be immediately equipped to the highest standards, therefore one of the proposed changes to the constitution will be the exclusion of expenditure on the army and armaments from the public debt threshold," Müller said.
He said a second issue which requires changes to the constitution is the possibility of confiscating the assets of Russian oligarchs and companies which support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The money could then be spent on humanitarian aid, he added.
Polish government also wants to impose extra taxes on companies which continue activities in Russia.
"Discussions on these issues have started and we hope that these proposals will be adopted. We are open to discussions," Müller said.
Changes to the constitution require a two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament and an absolute majority in the opposition-dominated Senate, so the government's proposals need to be supported by other political parties.
The spokesman also stressed that the changes would send a clear message that there would be no tolerance for international corporations hiding behind money, "when the same money is financing the Russian war machine".
Morawiecki: Switzerland must freeze Russian oligarchs' accounts
Switzerland must freeze the accounts of Russian oligarchs in the country and confiscate their assets, the Polish prime minister said on Monday during a visit to Warsaw by Swiss President Ignazio Cassis.
In a bid to force a Russian military withdrawal from Ukraine, Western countries have imposed numerous sanctions, including freezing the Russian central bank's assets.
"They must be frozen, the assets of Russian oligarchs in Switzerland must be confiscated and I called on the president to see to it that Switzerland approaches this topic decisively," Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.
Cassis said Switzerland had adopted European Union sanctions against hundreds of people, including many oligarchs.
"They cannot dispose of their assets. If they own companies in Switzerland, be it in the commodities sector or elsewhere, these companies are also concerned by the measures. There have already been bankruptcies," he said.
Cassis said the measures taken by Switzerland were compatible with the country’s constitution and its long history of neutrality.
"What is not compatible is military participation," he said. "This has been the case for 400 years."
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, TVN24, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24