Polish foreign minister sharply responds to far-right leader's outrage over Starlink for Ukraine
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has sharply responded to a claim by Sławomir Mentzen, leader of the far-right Confederation party, that if Ukraine needs Starlink it should finance it itself.
Source: Sikorski on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda
Details: A verbal dispute between Sikorski and Mentzen erupted after Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said that President Karol Nawrocki, by vetoing the law on aid for Ukrainians, had ensured "the end of Starlink internet that Poland provides to Ukraine".
Mentzen said he saw no reason why Poland should pay for Starlink for Ukrainians.
"If Ukraine wants to have Starlink, let it pay for it itself… The money of Polish taxpayers should go to the needs of Poles!" wrote the far-right politician.
Sikorski replied that "foreign policy is more complicated than the multiplication table".
"By helping Ukraine, we keep Putin’s army away from our borders, which is in the interests, including financial ones, of the Polish taxpayer", wrote the Polish foreign minister.
In a separate post, he noted that "Putin’s propagandists are delighted with decisions to limit aid to Ukraine and Ukrainians", and that he does "not welcome this".
Background:
- On 25 August, Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a new version of the law on assistance to citizens of Ukraine.
- Deputy Prime Minister Gawkowski said that Nawrocki’s veto deprives Ukraine of Starlink.
- Zbigniew Bogucki, head of President Nawrocki’s office, denied Gawkowski’s statement and asserted that Poland would continue to pay for Starlink for Ukraine, provided that parliament approves the president’s bill instead of the vetoed one.
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