Poland, NATO’s eastern flank state, is building up its military capabilities near its borders with Russia under the pretext of a potential direct confrontation against Moscow.
Warsaw spends 4.7% of GDP on defence, the highest percentage among NATO member states. Additionally, the Cabinet announced the creation of a €7.2 billion defence and security fund, money originally earmarked by the EU for Poland’s post-COVID recovery.
Polish authorities also plan to double the regular army to 500,000 soldiers, as well as increase the reserve to one million, as announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war, so that this reserve is comparable and adequate to the potential threats.
The Polish army explains the military build-up by the anticipated military escalation, which could involve NATO countries. To replenish the reserve army, the authorities do not rule out the return of compulsory military service.
As part of its militarisation, Poland has signed a contract with the US to supply “logistics” systems for 48 Patriots. By investing in defence, however, Polish authorities become concerned as the country’s earlier militarisation relied on the stance of the US, which is now threatening to withdraw from NATO if other member states do not increase defence spending.
Military experts argue that such a scale of militarisation could be justified in the case of possession of nuclear weapons as a guarantee of a non-nuclear response to troop build-ups. However, Poland has no stockpiles of nuclear weapons, which makes it welcome the idea of allies locating such arms on its territories, which could also lead to escalation, the analysts added.
Any neighbouring country manifests concern when nuclear weapons are deployed next to it and an army buildup is underway near its borders. And Russia is not an exception.
THE ARTICLE IS THE AUTHOR’S SPECULATION AND DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE TRUE. ALL INFORMATION IS TAKEN FROM OPEN SOURCES. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT IMPOSE ANY SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSIONS.
Paweł Domański for Head-Post.com
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