Poland wants to become one of the EU's leading arms producers

Audio 01:22

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton (left) and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (left) at a press conference during a visit to a shell factory in Nowa Deba, Poland, March 27, 2023. © Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters

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2 min

Hyperactive in sending military equipment to Ukraine, Poland now wants to accelerate its own production and become a leading military power. During the visit of European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton on Monday 27 March to a shell factory in the south of the country with Polish leaders, the parties promised to forge important partnerships for military production.

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With our correspondent in Warsaw, Martin Chabal

It was in one of the factory's warehouses that Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton shook hands. Together, they want to boost the European Union's arms production.

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We know very well that there are not enough of these munitions in all of Europe, and perhaps even in the whole of NATO, claims Mateusz Morawiecki. That's why the number one goal is to restock.

And both sides want it to go fast. Thierry Breton has embarked on a tour of Europe of munitions factories and wants to find solutions for each of them. On Monday, at the end of the visit that was made behind closed doors, he already had leads:

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We already have three rotation shifts working five days a week. Perhaps, for those who want to, we can go to six or even seven days, because we are now in a "war economy" for the defence industry. »

For Poland, this is the way to warm its relations with Brussels. In any case, this is what Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki sees in Thierry Breton's visit: "This is what we have been waiting for a long time, the Polish efforts in terms of armaments and arms transfers to Ukraine were very much appreciated in Brussels.

If Poland wants to have the largest army in Europe, it also hopes to become one of the largest arms producers on the continent.

► Read also: The immense military ambition of Poland

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Read on on the same topics:

• Poland
• European Union
• Defense