Polish President Karol Nawrocki has declared his support for strengthening the country's security "even on the basis of nuclear potential". He stated this on Sunday, February 15, in an interview with the Polish television channel Polsat News.
Nawrocki: Poland should join the "nuclear project"
Commenting on the international situation, Nawrocki stressed that he is a "big supporter of the idea of Poland joining the nuclear project". "This path, in compliance with all international norms, is the path we should follow," he said.
"We need to act in this direction so that we can start working. We are a country located in close proximity to an armed conflict zone. It is known what the attitude of the aggressive imperial Russian Federation towards Poland is," explained Nawrocki. Asked about Moscow's possible reaction, he replied: "Russia can react aggressively to anything."
As early as 2025, Duda called for the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Poland
Nawrocki did not specify whether by "nuclear project" he meant the development of Poland's own nuclear weapons or the deployment of foreign weapons in the country. His predecessor in office, Andrzej Duda, called on Donald Trump in March 2025 to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland as a deterrent against possible Russian aggression.
"NATO's borders moved east in 1999. That is why, 26 years later, there should also be a shift of NATO infrastructure to the east. I do not just think that the time has come for this. It would be safer if this weapon was already here," the Polish leader told the British newspaper Financial Times at the time.
After the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022, Duda also asked then-US President Joe Biden to deploy American nuclear weapons in Poland.
Ukraine was supposed to hand over its nuclear weapons in 1994
In Warsaw, the possibility of Russia attacking the Baltic states or Poland after Ukraine is assessed as a very real threat. That is why the presence of nuclear weapons on Polish territory is considered the best insurance against such a possible attack by Russia.
Many are convinced that if Ukraine had not returned to Russia in the early 1990s the nuclear weapons that were on its territory, it would still have a nuclear arsenal - and Moscow would never have dared to attack it.
At the time, in exchange for the returned nuclear weapons, Ukraine received Russian and American security guarantees. But Russia violated them back in 2014.