Just over half of the Polish public want a return of compulsory military service, according to a new poll, which also found that most are not in favour of loosening gun-ownership laws.
The survey, conducted by state pollster CBOS, showed that 54% favour general conscription to the army while 39% are opposed to the idea. Support was equally strong among men and women. Meanwhile, almost four fifths (78%) of respondents favour the idea of military training for citizens.
Ankietowani w sondażu @CBOS_Info popierają przywrócenie w Polsce powszechnego poboru do zasadniczej służby wojskowej. https://t.co/mw4ZMYAdRC
— Polska Times (@polska_times) August 10, 2022
Compulsory service existed in Poland until 2008 for men after they turned 19 years of age. Those who refused to serve could face fines or community service. The system was, however, abolished in 2009 by the then Civic Platform-led (PO) government with the approval of Law and Justice-backed (PiS) president Lech Kaczyński.
In 2008, CBOS found that 54% of Poles were in favour of having a fully professional army while only 35% wanted some form of compulsory conscription. The following year, support for abandoning conscription had risen to 74%, with only 20% opposed.
As recently as last year, another pollster, IBP, found that 61% of Poles remained opposed to compulsory military service, with 39% wanting it to be restored.
The shift this year to a narrow majority in favour of military service is likely to be linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s eastern neighbour. In response, the government has increased defence spending and promised to double the size of the armed forces, including through new paid voluntary service.
For now, however, there are no plans to reinstate compulsory military service, the defence ministry said in April.
After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Polish gun ranges reported a surge in interest, while some state-owned companies also began providing defence training to their staff.
However, in its new poll, CBOS found that most Poles are not in favour of loosening the country’s fairly strict gun laws, which have resulted in Poland having a relatively low level of gun ownership (with 2.5 civilian firearms per 100 persons, 166the out of 195 countries in the global Small Arms Survey).
Just over one third (35%) of respondents said that Poland’s current gun laws are sufficient and the same proportion, 35%, want them to be even stricter (including 26% who say that no one other than the uniformed services should have the right to possess a firearm).
Meanwhile, 18% think that gun ownership laws should be less restrictive but with certain limits still in place while only 5% think that every citizen should have the right to possess a firearm.
CBOS also found, however, that 22% think all citizens should receive compulsory shooting training while 37% think such training should be offered to everyone on a voluntary basis.
Source: CBOS
Main image credit: Latvijas armija/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
