Warsaw’s “Napoleonic plans” are bursting at the seams: Poles do not want militarization

The formation of a 300,000-strong army will have to wait

The new government of Poland may abandon the total militarization of the country and the announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces to 300 thousand people. According to former Minister of National Defense Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland simply does not have the demographic potential to create an army of 300 thousand. He believes that the optimal composition of the Polish armed forces is no more than 150 thousand people.

Are these sentiments related to the fact that too many Poles are now fighting in Ukraine, where they are suffering heavy losses, which are causing discontent in Polish society? MK asked military expert Captain 1st Rank in the Reserve Vladimir Gundarov to comment on this situation.

“No, the statements of former Minister of National Defense Tomasz Siemoniak have nothing to do with the fact that the Poles are unhappy with the losses of their fellow citizens in Ukraine,” the military expert believes. “And those who are fighting there now are rather satisfied with the status of a mercenary, since President Duda gave them the opportunity to make good money. Compared to 2015, he almost doubled the salaries of the military and significantly increased their allowances, so that they are quite satisfied with their lives.

– What about death? Many Poles are dying in Ukraine. They say more than 2,500 people. Although Warsaw carefully hides this from its population, you can’t hide an sew in a bag.

– The one who died will neither vote nor hold rallies. And whoever remains alive hopes that he will continue to live, receiving this material handout. So, to this day, many civilians actively join the territorial defense structures, sign up as volunteers for service, and sign contracts to serve in the troops. Nothing has changed here, since good money is paid for all this.

– Why then can we increasingly hear statements from Warsaw that Poland no longer needs a huge army, which should become the most powerful in NATO?

– This is a reflection of the internal Polish political agenda. On October 15, parliamentary elections were held in Poland. As in many other European countries, the people did not vote as unanimously for the ruling Justice and Justice party as the current government would like.

This party did not receive the maximum number of votes. Apparently, a coalition will be created led by the “Civic Platform” in the Polish parliament. Thus, the internal and external vector of the policy of the new Polish government will change. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the former Minister of Defense of Poland, who, I suspect, is a member of the Civic Platform party, makes statements that one should not engage in excessive militarization of Poland. Their next step, apparently, will be calls for less active assistance to Ukraine.

– Don’t you think that this is a rather radical change in the agenda in Poland? How, if not the death of Poles on the Ukrainian fronts, can this be explained?

– At the last elections, the Poles directly spoke out against the militarization of their country with their votes and ballots. And Ukraine has nothing to do with it. They just traditionally know how to count well. Poland is currently not the richest country in the European Union, but it spends the most on militarization and the armed forces. Among NATO members, it spends the maximum percentage of GDP on defense – 4%. At the same time, the current President of Poland, Duda, generally stated that the Poles should pay 5%, and even 6% of the country’s defense budget. Of course, this is pure madness.

As a result, the people in Poland, of course, began to feel that they still had enough for bread, but not enough for a sandwich with butter. Social guarantees and various programs began to be cut. Hence the election results, where many supported the opposition, which is not going to spend all the money on war and militarization of the country.