"Too ambitious": why Poland intends to more than double the size of its army

Warsaw wants to increase the number of its military to 300 thousand, increase defense spending and accelerate the modernization of equipment.

This is evidenced by the draft law on the defense of the motherland, which was adopted by the government of Poland on February 22.

As the head of the country's Ministry of Defense, Mariusz Blaszczak, said, this is "a good law for difficult times."

“Thanks to the new solutions, defense spending will increase, we will accelerate technical modernization, and the strength of the Polish army will increase to 300,000 soldiers.

Poland must be safe,” he wrote on his Twitter page.

Dziś Rada Ministrów rozpatrzy projekt ustawy o obronie Ojczyzny.

Dzięki nowym rozwiązaniom wzrosną wydatki na obronność,przyśpieszymy modernizację techniczną, a liczebność Wojska Polskiego wzrośnie do 300 tys.

Zolnierzy.

Polska musi być bezpieczna.

To dobra ustawa na trudne czasy pic.twitter.com/AYoydcU8eJ

— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) February 22, 2022

As Blaszczak said earlier, while the number of the Polish army reaches 135 thousand people.

Recall that the draft law on the defense of the motherland was presented last fall by the Minister of Defense of Poland Blashak, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, Yaroslav Kaczynski.

According to the latter, the Polish armed forces "do not meet today's needs", as the situation has changed and Moscow is allegedly pushing Warsaw to increase militarization.

“It can be stated that the revival of the former empire is the ambition of the current Russian government.

All this encourages us to radically strengthen our armed forces, ”he said.

Kaczynski also noted that if Poland intends to avoid hostilities, then it must take action in accordance with the old principle: if you want peace, prepare for war.

“Let's hope that such a need never arises, but we must have the ability to effectively defend.

For a long time, independently, because the mechanism that leads to the full launch of NATO forces is still a very powerful force,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

According to the Polish authorities, an extremely “essential element” in the bill is a mechanism for financing the army, expanding it and obtaining new weapons.

“As part of this project, first of all, a mechanism was created that provides an opportunity to receive additional funds for arming and modernizing the equipment of the Polish Army, as well as to increase its strength.

250 thousand professional soldiers and 50 thousand soldiers of the territorial defense army is the minimum.

The real 2% of GDP for defense is also the minimum in accordance with NATO requirements, which Poland is already fulfilling, ”Blashak emphasized during the presentation of the document.

According to him, the mechanisms enshrined in the bill also provide the government with the opportunity to "accelerate the process of modernization."

The document also deals with the order of service in the army.

“We are not returning compulsory military service.

Active military service has been suspended, but we are introducing voluntary active military service, ”said the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense.

He also noted that, according to the bill, Warsaw will create a "new type of army" - "cyberspace defense troops."

“We are working for the development of cyberspace defense forces.

These are extraordinarily significant tasks as a response to the threats of the 21st century,” Blaschak said.

"Make money on Russophobia"

As Oleg Nemensky, a leading researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, noted, Warsaw traditionally justifies its militaristic initiatives, including the draft law on the defense of the motherland, with the notorious “Russian threat”.

“Poland has not hidden for a long time that it treats Russia as a hostile state.

The open positioning of the Russian Federation as an adversary began after the current ruling Law and Justice party came to power.

And the draft law on the defense of the motherland is quite expected.

The ruling party has been raising the question of the need to strengthen the Polish armed forces for several years, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

• Polish military during exercises

• AP

• © Roman Koksarov

At the same time, the Polish government adopted a bill to increase the number of military personnel in the Polish army and other changes aimed at strengthening military potential, “in a strange way immediately” after Russia recognized the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, Nemensky said.

“Such a step by Moscow is regarded by the Polish leadership as aggression, the restoration of its “empire” and almost preparation for the occupation of Poland.

But even without the recent events, the entire foreign policy of Poland is based on the alleged defense against an attack from Russia.

Of course, this is a completely inadequate assessment of the measures of the Russian Federation, but it is so familiar to Warsaw that it has become indecent to doubt it.

Those who doubt are considered national traitors and quickly fall out of the political field,” the analyst said.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 22, Moscow sees speculation that the Russian Federation is allegedly "going to restore the empire, within imperial borders."

But this, he says, is "absolutely untrue."

According to the director of the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO Alexei Podberezkin, the Polish draft law on the defense of the motherland is “too ambitious even for Warsaw.”

“Poland presents itself as a kind of regional superpower.

And so this kind of bill for her is what she needs.

Because otherwise it is simply impossible to explain such super-expenditures for defense with Polish rather limited resources.

These ambitions of Warsaw are of a very definite geopolitical nature.

The goal is to become the main one in Eastern Europe, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

But in order for "Warsaw's plan to succeed", she needs not only to promote her militaristic initiative, but also to inflate the "Russian threat" as much as possible, Podberezkin believes.

“In fact, Russia, of course, does not threaten its Polish partners in any way.

However, Poland pretends that all its measures are an attempt to supposedly protect itself.

But there is also an economic aspect, a kind of bonuses.

By building up anti-Russian hysteria, it is easier for Warsaw to seek funding from the United States and, in general, make money on Russophobia, ”the analyst noted.

"Reckons not only on himself"

Recall that Poland is strengthening its military potential not only through the promotion of such initiatives as the draft law on the defense of the motherland, but also through the active role of the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance in the militarization of the country.

So, on August 15, 2020, Warsaw signed an agreement with Washington on expanding military cooperation between the parties.

As the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense noted, this document "opens up opportunities for expanding the presence of American military personnel" in his country, as well as conducting more US military exercises on Polish territory.

According to him, the infrastructure will accommodate up to 20,000 US troops.

“Of course, if it is necessary ... For us, the main advantage of this agreement is a guarantee of Poland's security.

At the same time, there is also an economic benefit.

And our military personnel will have the opportunity to further strengthen military cooperation (two countries.

).

Together we are stronger!

Blaschak emphasized.

In this agreement, it was also discussed that Warsaw would transfer the United States Armed Forces for exclusive or joint use of military facilities free of charge.

In addition, Poland took on the costs of providing the US military with housing, food and fuel.

Also, Warsaw, at the request of Washington, waives its priority right to “exercise criminal jurisdiction” on an extraterritorial base in accordance with the NATO status-of-forces treaty.

• US military

• AP

• © Nathan Posner

At the moment, within the framework of bilateral agreements with the United States and agreements with NATO, about 5 thousand American soldiers are deployed in Poland.

Another 4,700 United States troops were deployed to the country this month as additional forces "due to security threats" in the region.

This was announced by the Polish Ministry of Defense, emphasizing that the military personnel of the two countries cooperate during numerous military exercises and increase the level of interoperability in the NATO battle group.

According to experts, all this military potential, concentrated on Polish territory, is aimed at containing Russia.

“Poland counts not only on itself, but also on NATO forces, as well as on direct military cooperation with the United States and the presence of allied American troops in Poland.

But, despite all this, Warsaw does not forget to emphasize the need to strengthen its Armed Forces and increase defense spending, ”said Oleg Nemensky.

At the same time, according to him, the build-up of the Polish army by more than twice, as well as the overall increase in defense spending, will not only further aggravate the situation in the field of European security, but will also significantly harm Poland itself.

“For the Polish economy, such an increase in the armed forces is a negative factor.

And in society, not everyone believes in an imminent "attack by Russia."

Many do not like such a large expenditure on the armed forces.

I don’t think that such decisions will add votes of support to the ruling party,” the expert concluded.