Poland vetoes €40b EU arms funding plan

Poland's ferocious dispute over EU defence loans reached a fever pitch on Thursday as nationalist president Karol Nawrocki vetoed a multi-billion-euro plan that parliament had already approved, reported Agence France-Presse.

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Lawmakersin Poland, the largest country on NATO's eastern flank, last month backed the Security Action For Europe (SAFE) scheme, which would bring nearly 44 billion euros in loans. The money is earmarked for air and missile defences, anti-drone technology and other equipment, as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine. But Nawrocki, whose relationship with Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU government is rocky, moved to block the plan Thursday. "I have decided not to sign the law that would allow Poland to take out the so-called 'Safe' loan. I will never sign a law that undermines our sovereignty, our independence, as well as our economic and military security," he said in a televised address.

Tusk, a strong proponent of the SAFE scheme, denounced the veto, while his spokesperson called it "an act of national treason".

"The president has missed the chance to behave like a patriot. A disgrace!" Tusk wrote on X.