Unused European Union funds meant for helping member states recover from the pandemic should be put towards building the defence industry, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Władyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and its Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on Monday (May 6). The two politicians, alongside Poland's National Security Bureau Head Jacek Siewiera, took part in Defence24 Days conference in Warsaw.
"All unused national recovery plan funds should be shifted towards defence projects," Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and the Minister of National Defence Władyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said during a panel at the Defence24 Days conference in Warsaw.
He added that there would be "a lot of such (unused) funds."
The EU in 2021 set up a 724-billion-euro fund, known as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), to be disbursed to member states over six years to boost public investment and help them emerge from the pandemic greener and more tech-friendly.
To get the RRF money, member states have to implement pre-agreed investments and reforms that will also boost growth in the years to come. Poland and some other countries are currently in a race against time to carry out necessary investments and reforms before access to the RRF expires in August 2025.
"I fully agree that unused national recovery plan funds, globally within the whole union, should go towards defence," Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said during the same panel discussion.
Poland has increased its defence spending to over 4% of gross domestic product - more than the NATO guideline - in response to what authorities in Warsaw see as rising threats following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Presidential bill on defence
President Andrzej Duda has submitted to parliament a draft bill aimed at increasing Poland's defence readiness, citing new forms of threat from Russia, the National Security Bureau (BBN) said on Thursday (May 2).
Under the proposal, the general and operational military commands would be combined into a joint body in the NATO and European Union member state.
The draft also envisages new permanent defence plans ensuring the army's ability to respond to sudden threats immediately, and aims to boost the flow of information and coordination between Poland's civilian and military authorities.
"The proposal provides for introducing changes in the military and non-military areas, strengthening the capabilities to counteract hybrid threats, subliminal threats and direct armed aggression," BBN said in a statement.
It said the proposals were "a response to changes in the security environment, including new forms of threats from the Russian Federation directed against Poland and other European Union and NATO countries."
"Best possible relations with America"
During a visit to Washington on Sunday, Sikorski was quoted as saying that Poland wanted "the best possible relations with America, regardless of who is in power".
"We will not make the mistakes of our predecessors by putting all our chips on one color," state-run Polish Press Agency (PAP) cited Sikorski as saying, in an apparent betting reference.
Poland's former nationalist government had enjoyed a good relationship with former U.S. President Donald Trump, even as Warsaw's handling of policies raised concerns over its faithfulness to democratic values and strained the tolerance of EU allies.
After Joe Biden's 2020 election win, Warsaw did not officially recognise him as U.S. president for several weeks.
Sikorski was in Washington to discuss bilateral ties, security issues and the war in Ukraine with U.S. officials.
The minister also expressed a critical view on president Duda's public declaration regarding Poland's readiness to host American nuclear weapons as part of NATO's nuclear sharing arrangement.
"I'd like to suggest the Polish Press Agency ask the president what is the point of this public speculation on nuclear planning issues," Sikorski said.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP