Poland should develop its own nuclear defences amid growing threat from Russia, says president

WARSAW - Poland should look at developing its own nuclear weapons

in light of the growing threat from Russia

, President Karol Nawrocki said in an interview with Polsat News television.

“I am a big supporter of Poland joining a nuclear project,” Mr Nawrocki said in the interview, adding that he cannot say if or when Poland will start work aimed towards having its own nuclear weapons.

“We are a country right on the border of an armed conflict, and we know what the attitude of the aggressive, imperial Russian Federation toward Poland is,” Mr Nawrocki added.

Mr Nawrocki’s comments come after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at the Munich Security Conference that he’s in talks with France over potential European nuclear defence. Mr Merz made a call to reorder the transatlantic relationship amid the turmoil of US President Donald Trump’s second term.

Mr Nawrocki said in the Polsat News interview that Poland should follow the path toward developing its own nuclear potential, with respect for all international regulations.

When asked if the US would allow Poland to take this direction, as Warsaw is a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Mr Nawrocki said “I don’t know this, but we need to act in a direction so that we can start the work.”

Warsaw signed a treaty with France in 2025, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk said will open the way toward Poland potentially sharing protection from French nuclear missiles.

In September, more than 20 drones

crossed Poland’s territory during a Russian airstrike on neighbouring Ukraine

. Warsaw spends almost 5 per cent of economic output on defense and is also the biggest beneficiary of European Union’s SAFE defence loan programme.

Mr Nawrocki said it is too early for him to say if he would sign into law a draft that would streamline the SAFE funds in Poland. BLOOMBERG