Poland's military reform: 500,000 soldiers should be prepared!

Poland's military reform: 500,000 soldiers should be prepared!

In times of uncertainty in Europe, the security situation in Germany and especially in Saxony is a central issue. Colonel Michael H. Popielas, commander of the Saxony State Command, commented on this and emphasized that the main mission of the armed forces is national and alliance defense. Representatives of the district and district liaison commands also came together at a leadership meeting in Dresden, which underlines the importance of this topic. Also a guest was Colonel Edward Chyła, commander of the 16th Territorial Defense Forces Brigade from Wrocław, who shared the Polish perspective on current security challenges.

The interest of German reservists in training Polish reservists shows how important the experiences from history, especially those of the Home Army in the Second World War, are still important today. This is reflected in current developments in Poland, where a drastic increase in troop numbers is planned. Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that all adult men would be offered military training in order to be prepared in an emergency.

New training programs in Poland

From 2027, the number of men trained annually is expected to increase from 40,000 to 100,000. This is part of a comprehensive plan aimed at achieving a defense level of 500,000 troops. Poland currently has 216,000 active soldiers, including 140,000 professional soldiers and almost 40,000 members of the Territorial Defense Forces. Tusk is confident that the population will provide enough voluntary recruits for these projects.

What is particularly striking is that Poland is planning to set up an “army of reservists”. The idea is to create a broad defense force that can be quickly mobilized to respond to possible threats. These developments are not without reason. Poland has not lost sight of concerns about Russia's aggressive foreign policy ambitions, especially with regard to the situation in Ukraine. Tusk himself emphasized that the current geopolitical situation requires clear instructions for action.

Defense spending in Poland

The Polish government sees the need to spend five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, an injection from current spending, which has been around 4.1 percent in recent years. An increase to 4.7 percent of GDP is expected for 2023. With these measures, Poland aims not only to increase its current security, but also to implement a change in strategy that focuses heavily on training its civilian population, thus ensuring that citizens are prepared for possible threats.

The changing security policy landscape in Europe makes it clear that states are increasingly concerned about their defense capability. In this sense, the cooperation discussions and the exchange of experiences between Germany and Poland are becoming increasingly important. diesachsen.de reports that this is a step in the right direction, both for Germany and Poland.

In these turbulent times, in which security policy challenges are omnipresent, it is becoming apparent that strong cooperation between NATO member states is necessary in order to be prepared for all eventualities.