Poland continues to fund Starlink for Ukraine after President Nawrocki signed assistance bill
Warsaw continues to fund the Starlink communications system in Ukraine, following the signing of the relevant legislation by Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Ukraine's Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced on Sept. 29.
"During the war, this technology is of critical importance — to keep hospitals, schools, critical infrastructure, and front-line regions connected," Fedorov said on his Telegram channel.
There are currently over 50,000 Starlink terminals operating in Ukraine, with more than 29,000 supplied by Poland.
Last week, Nawrocki signed a bill extending the assistance to Ukraine amid the full-scale Russian invasion.
The historian-turned-politician, who took a tougher position toward Kyiv than his predecessor, first vetoed the bill in August, demanding stricter rules on benefits for Ukrainians and additional amendments about the border, history, and Ukrainian nationalism.
The Polish government warned at the time that the veto could effectively end Polish support for Starlink Internet in Ukraine as of Oct. 1, which is covered by the assistance bill.
Nawrocki later signed a revised version of the bill, in which the parliament agreed to limit benefits to employed Ukrainians only.
As his proposals regarding historical issues were disregarded, the president introduced a bill on Sept. 29 that would make it a crime to disseminate "false claims" about the Volyn massacres, extend the period needed to obtain Polish citizenship, and introduce harsher penalties for illegal border crossings.
The Volyn (Volhynian) massacres of 1943-1944 took place in the Nazi-occupied territory of what is now western Ukraine during World War II. Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) members killed at least tens of thousands of Poles, while thousands of Ukrainians were killed in retaliation.
The massacre remains one of the most contentious issues in present-day Polish-Ukrainian relations.
