Our duty is to defend Poland's national interests: PM
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
10.10.2016 12:18
The government will defend the interests of Polish companies, Prime Minister Beata Szydło said on Monday, following a decision by the government to cancel a military helicopter contract with a French company.
Polish PM Szydło in Świdnik on Monday. Photo: PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz
“The duty of the Polish state is to defend the national interest of Poland. It is the duty of the Polish government to defend the interests […] of the Polish economy,” Szydło said.
The comments came just days after the Polish government broke off negotiations over an offset deal with France’s Airbus Helicopters, which had been one of the conditions for Poland’s purchase of 50 aircraft.
The previous Civic Platform-led government chose to purchase the ‘Eurocopter’ EC725 helicopters for PLN 13.5 billion (EUR 3.2 billion) in April 2015, rejecting rival offers from the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation and Leonardo's PZL Świdnik, both operating in Poland.
Speaking on Monday at a plant operated by PZL Świdnik in south-eastern Poland, Szydło said that talks by her government regarding the tender were conducted with the interests of the country in mind.
“We set conditions that, from the point of view of both defence and economy, were the best for the Polish state. There were also good conditions for our partners. Still, they [Airbus Helicopters] refused to accept them. Therefore it was not possible to continue the talks,” Szydło said.
(rg)