Almost 14,000 new recruits joined Poland’s armed forces last year, the highest number since the end of compulsory military service in 2008, says defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak.
He has released the figures in response to media claims that record numbers of soldiers are quitting and that the government will struggle to meet its target of doubling the size of the armed forces.
Recruitment for Poland's new paid voluntary military service launches this weekend as part of the government's efforts to double the number of troops serving in the armed forces https://t.co/npwxbQovKl
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 18, 2022
“Last year, a record number of soldiers joined the Polish armed forces. I am thinking here of professional soldiers – 13,742 soldiers,” said Błaszczak.
“This is only the first stage, because this year, in 2023, our campaign ‘Become a Soldier of Poland’ will only gain momentum,” he added, referring to a recruitment programme launched last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Błaszczak also tweeted a graphic showing that there are now 164,000 personnel serving in the armed forces, up from 95,000 when the current government took power in 2015.
To tyle na temat rzekomego exodusu żołnierzy. Wojsko Polskie rośnie w siłę! Mamy coraz więcej żołnierzy, którzy dysponują najnowocześniejszym sprzętem. Odtwarzamy jednostki i tworzymy nowe.Tylko w tym roku w dobrowolnej zasadniczej służbie wojskowej przygotowaliśmy 25 tys. miejsc pic.twitter.com/Ejzka7Fy4S
— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) January 29, 2023
“So much for the alleged exodus of soldiers,” wrote the minister in his tweet, referring to a report last week by online news outlet Onet that there is currently an “avalanche of departures from the armed forces”.
Onet noted that the defence ministry had forecast around 6,000 personnel leaving the armed forces last year, but that the actual figure was almost 50% higher.
While the outlet conceded that an even higher number of new recruits joined, it noted that it is “the most experienced people leaving the army, including special forces, sailors, pilots, logisticians, tank operators and artillerymen, and it will take many years to train new ones”.
Onet cited unnamed sources saying that this year “almost 9,000 experienced soldiers will be leaving”.
Lawina odejść z wojska. Sprytny ruch Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, ale spóźniony https://t.co/aZ40frInh4
— Onet (@onetpl) January 27, 2023
A new Homeland Defence Act introduced last year increased Poland’s defence budget to 3% of GDP – one of the highest levels in NATO – and set a target of doubling the size of the armed forces from 150,000 to 300,000 personnel.
Among its efforts to encourage enlistment, the defence ministry launched a new year-long form of paid voluntary military service and free eight-hour-long training sessions with military instructors for members of the public. It has also improved salaries and benefits for soldiers.
Meanwhile, the government has also embarked on a defence procurement spree, signing deals for hundreds of tanks and howitzers from the US and South Korea. Warsaw is also buying Patriot air defence systems, HIMARS rocket launchers and F-35 combat aircraft from the US.
Main image credit: Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
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.
