The Polish government seems to already be backtracking after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared live on his native Polsat News that his country would no longer supply Ukraine with weapons in their fight against Russia.
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” was the sudden and somewhat unexpected announcement from Morawiecki last Wednesday (September 20).
It came after a spat over Poland’s – along with Hungary and Slovakia’s – ban on the imports of Ukrainian grain.
Morawiecki’s statement drew a number of critical responses, including from important Polish political figures who tried to soften his blunt words.
Polish President, Andrzej Duda, said the next day (September 21) that he thought Morawiecki’s words had been misinterpreted, saying new weaponry would be kept, but older equipment would continue to be sent: “In my opinion, the prime minister meant that we won’t be transferring to Ukraine the new weaponry that we’re currently buying as we modernise the Polish army.”
Duda continued: “As we receive the new weaponry from the US and South Korea, we will be releasing the weaponry currently used by the Polish army. Perhaps we will transfer it to Ukraine.”
A Warsaw government spokesperson also confirmed (September 21) that Poland would honour “previously agreed” deliveries.
It was a remarkably quick backtrack from those in power after such a bold statement from Morawiecki. Both PM Morawiecki and President Duda are part of the right-wing Law and Justice Party.
President Duda has the power to veto Morawiecki’s policies, although a three-fifths vote in the lower house of parliament can undo a potential Duda veto.
Morawiecki’s stinging comments came amid a rift with Ukraine over grain. With Russia preventing safe routes south down the Black Sea to Turkey, central Europe is essentially the only option left if Ukraine’s grain is not to be wasted.
But this directly competes with Polish farmers, and with just under three weeks until the next Polish parliamentary elections, the spat seems to point towards Morawiecki’s priorities shifting inwards to domestic, rather than international, affairs.
Morawiecki went on later to tell Zelensky to “never insult Poles again”, after Zelensky said “some of our friends in Europe [have] made a thriller from the grain”. Morawiecki warned “additional products” could be added to the ban on imports to Poland.
Duda has less to worry about though. The next presidential election in Poland isn’t until 2025, and he is ineligible to stand due to constitutional term limits.
