Poland will raise defence spending to the equivalent of 5% of GDP, ruling party chairman Jarosław Kaczyński has announced. That would be by far the highest relative level of spending in NATO at current levels.
“We take security issues seriously,” said Kaczyński during a speech in the town of Płock. “We will [soon] devote 3% of GDP to defence, and over time that will be 5%.”
This is being done “so that Russia will not attack us”, he continued, quoted by Polskie Radio. “Our allies will help us, but only when we are able to defend ourselves….We must be a cohesive, armed and brave nation.”
Under a new Homeland Defence Act passed in March with cross-party support, the government has already committed to more than double the size of the armed forces and increase defence spending from 2.2% this year to at least 3% from 2023.
That would make Poland NATO’s third biggest relative spender based on 2021 data, behind only Greece (3.82%) and the United States (3.52%). Should Kaczyński’s 5% pledge come to fruition, Poland would top the list by some distance at current levels.
Although Kaczyński holds no formal government title – having recently resigned as deputy prime minister with responsibility for security – as chairman of the Law and Justice (PiS) party that dominates the coalition government he is regarded as Poland’s de facto leader.
#NATO Allies are increasing defence spending to ensure deterrence and defence in the Euroatlantic area.
10 Allies intend to invest 2% or more of GDP in #defence in 2021:
🇭🇷 🇪🇪 🇫🇷 🇬🇷 🇱🇻 🇱🇹 🇵🇱 🇷🇴 🇬🇧 🇺🇸Read ▶️ https://t.co/Xt23Ki7I6z pic.twitter.com/mBb00LPFCr
— Baiba Braže (@NATOBrazeB) June 11, 2021
During his speech in Płock, Kaczyński reminded the audience that his party “never had any illusions that this broken [Russian] empire would not counterattack”. PiS has regularly warned the Polish public and international partners in recent years that Russia represents a military threat to its eastern neighbours.
The PiS chairman also criticised previous Polish governments for pursuing “a policy since 1989 aimed at turning our country into a nation of pacifists – cowardly and unable to fight”. His party “has reversed this path, but there is still a lot ahead of us”.
“Large, strong states strive for domination…[over] weaker ones,” Kaczyński continued, which is why Poland must maintain its sovereignty within the EU and ensure that it continues to catch up with the West economically.
Main image credit: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/Flickr (under CC BY-SA 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.
