Poland's Sikorski Warns Polish Exit from EU Would Slash GDP

(MENAFN) Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski delivered a stark economic and security warning to parliament Thursday, telling lawmakers that abandoning the European Union would devastate the country's finances and leave it dangerously exposed at one of the most volatile moments in recent European history.

In his annual foreign policy address, Sikorski framed EU and NATO membership as the dual foundations of Poland's stability, pushing back sharply against voices in the opposition advocating a more distant relationship with Brussels. "Be careful with your dreams — they may come true," he cautioned.

The numbers he presented were stark. A Polish exit from the EU would, according to estimates cited during the speech, shrink GDP by between 4% and 7% over five to ten years, depress wages by up to 8%, and devastate agricultural trade — with meat and dairy exports potentially collapsing by as much as 45% to 50%. Sikorski noted that Poland exports roughly €350 billion ($413 billion) in goods each year, with nearly three-quarters of that trade flowing to EU member states.

"Poland's national interest is to remain in the EU and co-shape it," he declared. "Outside the EU, Poland would be poorer, weaker and less secure." Far from eroding sovereignty, he argued, participation in EU institutions actively reinforces it.

Sikorski also sounded the alarm over what he described as an intensifying campaign of Russian-linked interference. Poland is already absorbing thousands of cyberattacks against state institutions daily, he said, alongside a series of incidents involving Russian drones and acts of sabotage. "We see the threat," he warned, urging against any political complacency in the face of sustained destabilization efforts.

On Ukraine, Sikorski was unequivocal, framing Warsaw's support for Kyiv in cold strategic rather than humanitarian terms. "A free, Western-anchored Ukraine improves Poland's security," he said, cautioning that a Ukrainian defeat would directly degrade Poland's own strategic position.

The foreign minister also moved to reframe how Poland should view its relationships within Europe, dismissing portrayals of Brussels or Berlin as threats to national identity. "The EU helps manage relations with Germany," he said, arguing that shared rules and multilateral institutions prevent larger powers from dominating smaller ones. "We should not invent enemies in the West. The real threat comes from the East."

His remarks were widely interpreted as a direct rebuke of nationalist currents gaining momentum within parts of the opposition, while simultaneously signaling to European allies that Warsaw remains a committed partner on defense, energy, and industrial policy.

Thursday's session carried added political weight. President Karol Nawrocki was in attendance, following weeks of publicly simmering tensions between the government and the presidency over EU defense financing structures and national security priorities.

Sikorski closed by addressing the broader transatlantic picture, defending the government's handling of ties with Washington while issuing a cautionary note: Europe can no longer treat American security guarantees as automatic. The continent, he argued, must urgently take greater ownership of its own defense — through both increased spending and deeper industrial collaboration.

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