Polish president's rival bill heats up spat over EU defence scheme

Poland will be able to use profits from central bank gold and foreign exchange reserves instead of EU loans to boost military spending, according to a bill proposed by the president on Tuesday that drew a rebuke from Prime Minister Donald Tusk.



Poland was the biggest beneficiary of the EU's 150-billion-euro Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, but the nationalist opposition Law and Justice party (PiS) labelled it a German plot to meddle in Polish affairs that would saddle Warsaw with debt and limit its flexibility regarding arms purchases.



President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of PiS, has proposed a plan to use Polish funds instead of the European Union loans.