SAFE for Ukraine? Sobkowiak-Czarnecka: There will be no compulsion

The European Commission changes course on Ukraine

The change in Brussels' approach is related to the discussion about where the EU money allocated for rearmament actually goes. The European Commission and member states want a significant part of the orders to be placed in European industry, but Ukraine wants to spend this money mainly on its own production and purchases in the United States.

In this context, it is so important - as Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka emphasizes - that Polish companies will be the beneficiaries of the Ukrainian loan, which means that Ukraine will buy Polish equipment from the PLN 90 billion loan for rearmament.

In September, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the use of the remaining money from the EUR 150 billion SAFE program for joint projects with the Ukrainian defense industry. RMF FM correspondent in Brussels, Katarzyna Szymańska-Borginon, was the first to draw attention to the problem that the SAFE2 funds that Warsaw was counting on could be redirected to Ukraine.

This caused surprise and surprise in some EU countries. Deputy Minister of Defense Paweł Zalewski announced, for example, that Poland wants to take part in the second SAFE recruitment and use the money remaining after the first round for its own defense projects.

Now the Commission's position is more cautious

According to the talks between Deputy Minister Sobkowiak-Czarnecka in Brussels, there will be no automatic redirection of unused funds to Ukraine.

There will be no compulsion to spend these funds, said Sobkowiak-Czarnecka.

The Commission still wants the remaining pool to be used to strengthen European drone and anti-drone capabilities, but there will be no obligation to purchase equipment from Ukrainian industry.

When it comes to drone equipment, this does not mean that we are buying these drones from Ukraine, emphasized the Deputy Minister of National Defense in Brussels.

This is important for Poland, which has its own drone industry and already sells its solutions to other countries. Warsaw wants the possible second SAFE pool to also be used to develop Polish production capabilities.

However, Poland has not yet decided whether it will apply for this money. The decision will only be made at the level of the entire government.

For now, it is not known how much money will remain in the second SAFE pot. Countries have until the end of October to settle the first round. The Commission's preliminary estimates are EUR 10-20 billion, and some countries, including Italy, will not use the entire allocated amounts. The remaining money is to be distributed at the beginning of next year.

Is it worth applying for the second recruitment?

However, for Poland there is an additional problem. A possible second SAFE pool will still be covered by the current rules, so projects will have to be implemented by 2030. If the additional money is granted only in 2027, there will only be three years left to use it.

In the case of large armament programs requiring long production and delivery times, this may be a serious limitation. Poland will therefore have to answer the question whether it is worth taking out another loan if there is so little time to use it.