Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink could be cut due to the Polish president’s veto of a refugee aid bill, a Polish deputy prime minister said, as a conflict between the government and head of state deepens and undermines the once ironclad support of its war-torn neighbour.
Poland pays for Ukraine to use Starlink, which provides crucial internet connectivity to the country and its military as they try to push back invading Russian forces.
Right-wing Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Monday vetoed a bill extending state financial support provided to Ukrainian refugees and unveiled plans to limit their future access to child benefits and healthcare.
However, Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the vetoed legislation also provided the legal basis for providing Starlink to Ukraine.
“This is the end of Starlink internet, which Poland provides to Ukraine as it wages war,” he wrote on X.
Centrist Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the veto. But his government does not have the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to overcome the move.
“We cannot punish people for losing their job — particularly not innocent children. This is the ABC of human decency,” Labour Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak wrote on X.
Gawkowski, stressed that Nawrocki veto jeopardised Ukraine’s use of Starlink.
“We want to continue paying for internet by satellite for Ukraine. Unfortunately, this disastrous decision by the president greatly complicates things, and we will have to inform our partners that this support will finish at the end of September,” he told the PAP news agency.
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate
