Morawiecki suggests ways to fund Ukraine war

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on Germany to up its support for Ukraine as Europe continues to search for ways to arm Kyiv following the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Friday 24 March.

Morawiecki urged Germany, the EU’s largest economy, to step up and lead by revising its spending rules and making large-scale military investments. He also called on NATO allies to dramatically increase their spending target to 3% of economic output, while countries should explore repurposing frozen Russian assets for the war effort.

He meanwhile criticized Germany’s past energy policies, which relied heavily on importing Russian gas, arguing that they had led Europe down a dangerous path. 

Poland wields influence, but PM faces battles at home, abroad

Morawiecki, who will face a general election later in the year, proposed that the EU should issue more debt, consider defence bonds, and exempt defence spending from the EU’s strict budget rules. He argued that increased uncertainty necessitates higher military spending and pointed out that Poland will spend up to 4% of its GDP on defence in 2023. 

The Polish PM proposed several ideas for funding military expansion, such as the EU identifying “some money not spent and which they envisage won’t be spent (and) move EUR 5-10bn for the purposes of supporting Ukraine.” 

He also proposed that the EU should explore the possibility of issuing defence bonds and exempting defence spending from its strict budget rules. These ideas for funding the military expansion will be reviewed when the EU considers its seven-year budget, Politico reported. 

Poland currently hosts nearly one million Ukrainian refugees, and Morawiecki has attempted to position himself as a heavyweight on the European political stage. 

Morawiecki backs reduction of EU purview

The Polish premier laid out his vision for the future of Europe, calling to “reduce the number of areas under EU competence” in a speech in Heidelberg earlier this week.

However, the Brussels-based website noted, Morawiecki is also facing an uncertain future. In addition to the upcoming election, Poland is also in an ongoing standoff with the EU over the Polish government undermining judicial independence. 

Meanwhile, fines against the country are racking up, Brussels is withholding Coronavirus recovery funds over the spat. At the same time, relations with its main EU ally are strained. While Morawiecki expressed concern about Hungary’s Russia-friendly stance, he maintained that the two countries still see eye-to-eye on most issues.