Starlink is under threat: Poland withdraws support over veto of refugee law
25 August 18:34
Poland will no longer be able to finance the operation of the Starlink satellite Internet service for Ukraine due to President Karol Navrotsky’s decision to veto the law on support for Ukrainian refugees. This was stated by the Minister of Digitalization of Poland Krzysztof Gawkowski, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to him, the presidential veto has much broader implications than it might seem at first glance.
“Presidential vetoes cut blindly! Karol Navrotsky’s decision shuts down the Internet in Ukraine, because in fact it means his decision on the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens. This is the end of the Starlink Internet, which Poland supplies to Ukraine, which is at war. It is also the end of support for the storage of data of the Ukrainian administration in a safe place,” Gawkowski emphasized.
The minister emphasized that it is not only about the access of Ukrainians to the network, but also about the strategic security of the state:
“I can’t imagine a better gift for Putin’s troops than disconnecting Ukraine from the Internet, as the president has just decided.”
Context
Today, Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the government’s amendment to the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens. The government considers the decision to be politically motivated, as the document concerned not only social benefits but also the financing of infrastructure and digital programs to support Ukrainians.
One of these programs was the payment for Starlink services, which provide uninterrupted satellite internet for the Ukrainian military and government agencies, as well as the storage of Ukrainian administration data in secure data centers in Poland.
Additionally
Amidst the scandal, it became known that the Polish investment fund Vinci, which is part of the group of the state-owned Bank of Regional Economy, invested 40 million zlotys (over $11 million) in the Finnish satellite company Iceye. The company is known in Ukraine for the “people’s satellite” that Serhiy Prytula’s volunteer foundation purchased in August 2022 for defense purposes.
Thus, Poland is simultaneously expanding cooperation in the field of satellite technology, but Ukraine’s access to the Starlink Internet may be jeopardized by the presidential veto.