Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
© Olivier Matthys/EPA-EFEPolish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the EU’s biggest economy must step up and lead.
In an interview with POLITICO, ​​Mateusz Morawiecki called on the EU and NATO to overhaul spending rules to spur massive military investments.

Germany has fallen short in supporting Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told POLITICO on Friday, lashing out at Berlin as Europe searches for ways to continue arming Kyiv.

In an interview following the EU leaders' summit in Brussels, the conservative Polish leader said the EU's biggest economy must step up and lead — part of a broader call he made for the EU and NATO to revise their spending rules and unleash massive military investments.

Among his proposals: NATO allies should dramatically jump their spending target to 3 percent of economic output, the EU should explore raising new debt for defense purposes and countries should accelerate efforts to repurpose frozen Russian assets for the war effort.


Comment: It will probably just put the EU into an even deeper Economic crisis. Russia is not an EU enemy.
The USA and their fascist allies in the EU blow the NordStream, one of the most important Strategic economic infrastructures for Europe. Now, the same psychos want to "save" Europe by making the economic situation even worse. Thank you, but please, don't help anymore.


But Morawiecki's most pointed comments targeted Germany, which has had a fraught relationship with Poland of late.

Germany should be "sending more weapons, sending more ammunition, and giving more money to Ukraine because they are the richest and the biggest country by far," he said.
"They were not as generous as they should have been," the Polish prime minister said. "I still encourage them to do so."
Poland, which leads the EU in military support to Ukraine, has joined with eastern capitals to repeatedly push western countries on their own aid for Kyiv. And while powerhouse countries like Germany and France note they have given Ukraine considerable stockpiles of arms, vehicles and money, their efforts have still left some eastern counterparts unmoved.

Warsaw has been particularly vocal — and Morawiecki, who is facing an election later this year, has been leading the charge.
"I'm not attacking them," the prime minister said, "I'm just stating the obvious."
Morawiecki did acknowledge that Berlin has made policy changes — which include massive investments to modernize its military and reversing a prohibition on sending weapons into a war zone. In particular, he underscored Germany's decision to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.
"Three months ago, Germany said it's not possible — now, it's possible," he said, "so they are changing their approach."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
The Polish leader also pointed a finger at Germany's past energy policies, which were heavily reliant on importing Russian gas, arguing it led Europe down a dangerous path.
"Through their very mistaken gas and oil policy towards Russia, they are co-responsible for what is happening, for this mess on the energy market," he said.
"Germany made this dramatic mistake of being completely dependent in their business model on Russia with fossil fuels," he said. "And we were crying to them. We were asking them not to do so."



Comment: Psychopaths always blame the victim for what they did.


The prime minister said that he has discussed his views on German support for Ukraine with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"I have this conversation every now and again," he said. "I ask him for as big a support," he said. "This is all I can do."
Poland is, however, benefiting from Germany's contributions to a joint EU fund that partially reimburses countries for their weapons donations to Ukraine. Berlin provides the biggest chunk of the money for that fund, known as the European Peace Facility, and Poland has not been shy in submitting its receipts.

But Morawiecki said he is not impressed with Germany's contribution to the fund, calling it just "proportional" to the country's size. And, he said, Poland would keep asking the EU to partially reimburse all its donations, including tanks and jets — an unsettled question as the fund is almost entirely earmarked now to help cover ammunition for Ukraine.

At the EU leaders' summit this week, Poland joined Slovakia to propose an extra €3.5 billion in 2023 for the fund. But they couldn't get enough countries on board, which Morawiecki attributed to "social tensions" in other countries.

The funding dance is just the beginning of a longer-term fight within the EU over how much to expand its military manufacturing capabilities — and how to pay for it.

Morawiecki had a bevy of ideas he was willing to toss out.

The EU could issue more debt, he said — a hot-button suggestion that countries like Germany are loath to explore. "I think this is possible," Morawiecki insisted.

Or it could look into defense bonds, he added — debt that governments issue to finance military endeavors. Another idea: Exempt defense spending from the EU's strict budget rules.

Morawiecki is eyeing an upcoming review of the EU's seven-year budget to raise some of these ideas. He also hopes the assessment will allow the EU to find "some money not spent and which they envisage won't be spent. And they can move €5 or €10 billion for the purposes of supporting Ukraine."

Another massive trove of cash sitting unused is the frozen Russian assets throughout the EU, a figure Morawiecki pegged at €350 billion. But EU officials have said there are legal issues that must be sorted out before it can redirect this money toward the war effort.

Separately, the Polish leader sees NATO's spending plans as a place to create extra funding.


Comment: It looks like that someone wants to throw the EU into a more direct war with Russia. Germany is the primary target as the biggest economy in the EU. If the German economy fails, the whole of Europe will face an economic breakdown.


In 2014, the military alliance's leaders agreed to each work toward spending 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product on defense within a decade — a target only seven allies have reached thus far. Now, NATO must decide what its next pledge will be.
"Given that there are more and more uncertain times around us, first I will be advocating for increasing these expenditures to 3 percent," Morawiecki said, noting that "Poland will already spend up to four percentage points of GDP this year on defense."
"I think," he added, "that like the old Roman saying goes, si vis pacem, para bellum — if you want peace, prepare for war."
Morawiecki, who leads the EU's largest eastern member state at about 38 million people, has been trying to portray himself as a political heavyweight on the European stage. His country currently hosts nearly one million Ukrainian refugees. And earlier this week, he gave a speech in Heidelberg where he laid out his vision for the future of Europe, calling to "reduce the number of areas under EU competence."

But the Polish leader is also facing an uncertain future. In addition to his upcoming election, Poland is also in an ongoing standoff with the EU over the Polish government's moves to undermine judicial independence. Fines have started racking up and Brussels is withholding coronavirus recovery funds over the spat.

At the same time, Warsaw is grappling with a headache when it comes to its closest ally and fellow rule-of-law troublemaker Hungary.

Asked if he is concerned that Budapest is too Russia-friendly at the moment, the prime minister responded immediately with a "yes."

But probed about whether Poland and Hungary — long allies against Brussels' attempts to enforce rights standards — are diverging, Morawiecki was more nuanced, saying that they are only separating "in all those aspects related to Ukraine and Russia."
"On everything else," he added, "we are like-minded countries."