“Today we must prepare our forces for a large-scale conflict, not for an asymmetric conflict,” said the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. from Poland General Wislau Kukula, as the country increases the number of troops on its borders with Russia and Belarus.
Poland’s relations with Russia and its ally Belarus have deteriorated sharply since Moscow has sent tens of thousands of troops to neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“This forces us to find a good balance between the frontier mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army”, he stated.
Speaking at the same event, Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Bejda said that since August, the number of troops guarding Poland’s eastern border will increase from 6,000 to 8,000 which is today, while an additional rearguard of 9,000 men could be reinforced within 48 hours.
In May, Poland announced details of the “Eastern Shield”a 10 billion zloty ($2.5 billion) program to strengthen defenses along its borders with Belarus and Russia, which it plans to complete by 2028.
Flashpoint on the border with Belarus
The border with Belarus has been a flashpoint since migrants began streaming there in 2021 after Belarus opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new, unofficial route to Europe — a move the European Union said was intended to create a crisis.
Warsaw this year increased its defense spending to more than 4 percent of its economic output in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kukula also stated that the current strong interest of candidates in joining the armed forces poses a dilemma about whether more recruits than budgeted should be recruited at the expense of purchasing military equipment; especially since, he said, interest is expected to start to decline sharply from 2027 onwards.
The size of the armed forces was about 190,000 at the end of last year, including ground, air, naval, special forces and territorial defense forces. Poland plans to increase this number to 300,000 troops within a few years.
Source: AMPE