On Wednesday, 12 March, the European Parliament in Strasbourg voted on a resolution to strengthen EU defence, which included an amendment recognising the Eastern Shield as a key project for the EU’s common security. The resolution passed with 419 votes in favour and 204 against but did not receive support from PiS (Law and Justice, a member of the ECR group) and the far-right, pro-Kremlin Konfederacja MEPs.
The Eastern Shield is a Polish initiative aimed at fortifying its eastern borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, representing a significant investment in national security.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the opposition’s behaviour, stating that PiS’s vote, which aligned with the Confederation, betrayed Poland’s defence interests.
“They voted against strengthening Poland’s defence capabilities on our eastern border. The nation will not forgive you for this,” PM Tusk addressed the PiS and Konfederacja leaders in a post on X.
PiS MEPs clarified that while they supported the Eastern Shield amendment, they opposed the overall resolution. They expressed concerns about the implications for Poland’s defence competencies and the potential loss of sovereignty, with Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of PiS, emphasising the importance of national independence. “Independence means having your own currency, your own budget, your own army. Giving up the ability to decide about our security means losing sovereignty,” said Kaczyński on Thursday at Platform X.
