Poland to profit from Ukraine aid – Tusk

Poland intends to revenue from future assist to Ukraine, together with from post-conflict reconstruction, and won’t “naively” assist Kiev at its personal expense whereas others become profitable, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stated.

Talking on the European Discussion board for New Concepts (EFNI) on Tuesday, Tusk harassed that Poland would prioritize its home financial system in commitments to Kiev.

“We’ll brutally guard our pursuits and Polish corporations,” Tusk declared.

“We’ll assist [Ukraine] – Poland is in solidarity, we’re an emblem of solidarity – however by no means once more in a naive means,” he stated. “It received’t be the case that Poland will specific solidarity whereas others revenue, for instance, on the reconstruction of Ukraine. We can be in solidarity and we are going to become profitable on it.”

Tusk cited a possible logistics hub within the south of the nation, run by Polish corporations as a degree from which supplies could possibly be exported to Ukraine from the EU.

“This can be a tough time for the world, however the absolute best time for Poland… On this more and more ruthless competitors of egoists on world markets and on entrance strains, Poland is not going to be a naive actor,” Tusk said, pledging to behave “ruthlessly when needed.”

Poland has been amongst Ukraine’s foremost supporters for the reason that escalation of the battle with Russia in 2022, offering greater than €5.1 billion ($5.7 billion) in assist, over 70% of which was army, in response to Germany’s Kiel Institute. The nation has additionally acquired a lot of Ukrainian refugees, though public attitudes have reportedly cooled amid the inflow of arrivals.

Warsaw can be a part of the so-called “coalition of the prepared,” a bunch of European international locations pushing to keep up army help for Ukraine and proposing to ship troops, purportedly in a post-conflict peacekeeping function. Earlier this month, Overseas Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stated Poland was able to grow to be the “largest beneficiary” of Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Reconstructing Ukraine will price some $500 billion over the following decade, in response to the World Financial institution. Some EU members, together with Poland, have advocated utilizing frozen Russian sovereign property to finance rebuilding efforts. Others, nonetheless, have warned that doing so with out authorized grounds might create a harmful precedent and deter world buyers.

Moscow has condemned the freezing of its property and warned that seizure would quantity to “theft,” which might be adopted by retaliatory measures concentrating on Western investments in Russia. Moscow has additionally repeatedly warned that Western assist is not going to alter the result of the battle, solely lengthen it.