Polish president vetoes bill to extend support for Ukraine's Starlink

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - WARSAW — Poland's President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a bill on Monday to extend the existing support package for Ukraine, saying Warsaw will not be able to continue paying for Kyiv's access to the Starlink network.

That means Polish funding to keep Ukraine connected to the internet via Starlink will stop on 1 October, potentially cutting off frontline troops from access to real-time information.

Poland has supported Ukraine's internet access via Starlink since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022, and the loss of this lifeline service is expected to be a massive blow to Ukrainian troops.

"Presidential vetoes are cutting blindly. Karol Nawrocki turns off the Internet in Ukraine with his decision, because de facto it means his decision on the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens," Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski wrote in a post on X.

"This is the end of the Starlink Internet, which Poland provides to Ukraine. This is also the end of support for storing Ukrainian administration data in a safe place."

Monday's veto will affect benefits Ukrainian refugees living in Poland receive from the state, as well as limiting their access to child benefits and healthcare.

Poland is home to around 1 million refugees who fled Russia's war in Ukraine, the majority of them women and children.

"We remain open to providing assistance to Ukrainian citizens – that hasn't changed," Nawrocki said.

"But after three and a half years, our law should be amended."

Nawrocki, a conservative who campaigned on a pledge to overhaul funding for Ukrainian refugees, took office on 6 August.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the veto, but his government does not have the two-thirds majority needed in parliament to counter the veto.

"We cannot punish people for losing their job – particularly not innocent children. This is the ABC of human decency," Labour Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak said in an X post.

And the interior ministry said on Tuesday that Nawrocki's veto could create 8 billion zlotys (€1.89 billion) in additional costs and require the national budget to be amended.

But not everyone in Poland's political sphere has voiced opposition to Nawrocki's cutting of some funding for Ukrainians.

The leader of the far-right Konfederacja party welcomed the decision to stop Starlink funding, saying in a post on X, "If Ukraine wants to have Starlink, let it pay for it."

Poland has been one of the most welcoming countries in Europe for refugees from Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

The country currently hosts the most Ukrainian refugees of any country in Europe, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

The Polish government has traditionally also been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's war effort.

Total support to Ukraine from Warsaw totals approximately €3.3 billion, in both military and humanitarian assistance.

But as Moscow's war grinds on, anti-Ukrainian sentiment has been increasing, despite data showing that the influx of Ukrainians has brought benefits to Poland’s economy.

A study by Poland’s National Development Bank earlier this year showed Ukrainian refugees had paid more in taxes than they had received in benefits.

But a Flash Eurobarometer survey conducted last year found that support for people fleeing the war in Ukraine had a noticeably lower level of support in Poland, with around 60% of respondents favouring state support.

This decline in Poland's support indicates "a worrisome war fatigue in the country that has been on the frontline throughout," according to Eurofound research. — Euronews