Karol Nawrocki has said he is a “strong supporter of joining a nuclear project,” citing a perceived Russian threat
Poland needs to develop its own nuclear weapons program, President Karol Nawrocki has suggested, citing a perceived ‘Russian threat’.
NATO’s European members have long cited what they claim to be the specter of Russian aggression to justify their massive military buildup. Moscow has dismissed such claims as “nonsense” and baseless fearmongering.
Speaking to Polsat News on Sunday, Nawrocki said he is a “strong supporter of Poland joining the nuclear project.”
“We need to act in this direction so that we can begin work,” the Polish president stated, adding that he does not know whether Warsaw would actually pursue this endeavor.
Poland is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which recognizes only five nuclear-armed states: China, France, Russia, the US, and UK.
Meanwhile, talk of obtaining nuclear weapons is no longer taboo in Germany. The topic is increasingly discussed by the media and gaining “advocates among politicians, MPs, the military officials and experts,” Russian Ambassador to Berlin Sergey Nechaev told RIA Novosti on Friday, calling the trend highly concerning.
Kay Gottschalk, a lawmaker from the right-wing AfD party, said last month that Germany “needs nuclear weapons,” arguing that European nations could no longer rely on American protection. He stated that the recent tensions between the US and its European allies over Greenland proved that Washington’s interests are “fundamentally different from ours.”
Last July, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said that Germany could build a nuclear bomb “in a matter of months,” but noted that the scenario was “purely hypothetical.”
In December, Japanese media quoted a senior adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as suggesting that the country should consider developing its own nuclear deterrent. The remark drew a sharp rebuke from China.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said last month that some countries may conclude that acquiring nuclear weapons is the only way to guarantee self-defense and sovereignty amid growing global instability.
“A range of nations have the technical capacity to run a military nuclear program, and some are pursuing research in this area,” he said.
Apart from the five permanent UN Security Council members, India, Pakistan and North Korea also possess nuclear arsenals, while Israel is widely believed to have undeclared capabilities.