Polish PM to opposition: Don't play with fire – supporting Ukraine is in Poland's national interest
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has defended military assistance to Ukraine amid a controversy over claims that his government secretly supplied Patriot interceptor missiles to Kyiv, saying support for Ukraine remains a matter of national consensus in Poland.
Source: Tusk's press conference in Bydgoszcz, as reported by Onet
Details: Responding to questions about the alleged undisclosed transfer of interceptor missiles for Ukraine's Patriot air defence systems, Tusk neither confirmed nor denied the reports. However, he stressed that providing military assistance to Kyiv remains firmly in Poland's national interest.
The prime minister once again appealed to everyone, from the president to all politicians, not to play with fire. He said that Poland's support for Ukraine in its war against Russia had been the subject of both political and national consensus.
Tusk argued that, regardless of historical disputes and current political tensions, Poland cannot abandon its support for Ukraine's defence against Russian aggression. He recalled that the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government had also supplied Ukraine with significant quantities of Polish weapons.
He said that they could discuss history, bilateral relations, and the extent to which Poland should support immigrants and refugees. However, he stressed that under no circumstances could they jeopardise cooperation with Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression. He added that the same principle had applied when their predecessors decided to transfer large quantities of Polish weapons to Ukraine during the first days and months of the war. He noted that no one had criticised that decision, even though it had been a major operation involving certain risks.
According to Tusk, support for Ukraine should not become a subject of domestic political disputes in Poland.
Tusk stressed that it was not only a matter of solidarity and decency but also of Poland's own security. He said that every missile fired in Ukraine that successfully destroyed the aggressor's shells, missiles, drones or aircraft made Poland safer. He added that they could not allow the issue to become part of an absurd domestic political struggle.
Addressing critics of military aid, Tusk asked everyone who wanted to stop helping Ukraine whether they had sided with Russia.
He urged those using the issue for what he described as "cheap popularity" to reconsider their position.
Background:
- On Saturday 4 July, Krzysztof Bosak, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm and leader of the Confederation party, claimed that in March, the government secretly transferred expensive and difficult-to-replace interceptor missiles for the Patriot system to Ukraine without informing the Sejm.
- In response, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said he had instructed officials to declassify information on Poland's military assistance to Ukraine provided since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon to help us keep reporting!