This document (the defense pact) can also be described as a contemporary "pact with the devil," because its content and procedural mode raise the most serious objections. The Ministry of National Defense confirmed the existence of advanced work on this agreement, indicating the coming months as the deadline for finalization, which coincides with alarming reports about the express pace of inter-ministerial work, which gave other ministries only ten days to submit comments. Such a procedural mode of a document key for state security suggests a desire to avoid broad public debate and substantive analysis of long-term consequences, which in a democratic state under the rule of law is an inadmissible practice.
A key element of the controversy is the attempt to bypass the constitutional requirements for ratification of international agreements through manipulation of nomenclature. According to Article 133 of the Polish Constitution, international agreements require ratification, which entails the necessity of obtaining the President's signature. Meanwhile, operating with the term "document" instead of "agreement" appears to be a deliberate legal device aimed at excluding the head of state and the Sejm from the decision-making process. This is an extremely dangerous mechanism, creating a political "gray zone" in which state obligations arise outside democratic and legal control. Similar concerns apply to the German side, where the Bundestag, under that country's Basic Law, should also ratify such agreements, which calls into question the legality and durability of the entire undertaking on both sides of the Oder.
The substantive content of the proposed agreement raises equally great concern, particularly in the points concerning the freedom of transit of German troops through Polish territory and the exchange of sensitive intelligence information. Allowing foreign troops almost unlimited movement across the country without each-time consent of state authorities can be perceived as a voluntary relinquishment of part of the attributes of territorial sovereignty. Additionally, the provisions concerning cooperation between defense industries raise concerns about an asymmetry of benefits, in which Polish companies could be reduced to the role of subcontractors of simple components, while key technologies and profits would remain on the German side. There is a real risk that under the guise of European defense solidarity, an arrangement is being built in which Polish potential is used instrumentally to realize Berlin's interests, while simultaneously weakening its own strategic capabilities.
Assessing the situation, it must be stated that pushing through a Polish-German defense agreement in its current form and mode is an action striking at the dignity of the Polish state and constitutional principles. Creating international obligations through extralegal "scraps of paper" and bypassing the most important constitutional institutions leads to a weakening of Poland's position on the international stage, making the agreements concluded easy to undermine in the future. Instead of transparent strengthening of regional security, we are dealing with backroom games that build distrust and may bring effects opposite to those intended. It is necessary to develop a deep legal and political strategy that will restore parliamentary control over the process of military integration, preventing circumvention of the constitutional safeguards of a free Poland. Without full legal and social legitimacy, any such agreement will remain merely a fragile document, devoid of real power and authority.
