Poland will order ALL men to undergo military training, under plans to create reserve force as Europe rearms amid mounting tensions with Russia
Poland could soon require every adult male to undergo large-scale military training as it aims to boost its reserve force amid mounting tensions with Russia.
The Polish government is currently working to put a system in place for training all men for the event of a war, Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed Friday.
Tusk told the country’s Sejm – the lower house of parliament – that the military training would create a reserve force that is ‘adequate to possible threats.’
Officials aim to have a plan for the scheme, which would also be open to women volunteers, finalised by the end of the year.
Concern has grown in Poland and across most of Europe after President Donald Trump has shifted the US position from being a defender of Ukraine to withholding military aid and intelligence, and signalling a support for Russia’s position.
Poland, located along NATO’s eastern flank, is deeply worried by the war in Ukraine and readying itself for threats from Moscow.
There are fears that if Ukraine is defeated, Russia will turn its imperial ambitions to countries like Poland, which it controlled during the 19th century and during the Cold War.
President Andrzej Duda on Friday said he was submitting an amendment to the Polish constitution for consideration which would oblige the country to spend at least 4 per cent of its GDP each year on defence.
Poland, galvanised by Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine three years ago, already spends a higher proportion of GDP on defence than any other NATO member, including the US.
‘We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war so that this reserve is truly … adequate to potential threats,’ Tusk told the chamber Friday.
He added: ‘If Ukraine loses the war or if it accepts the terms of peace, armistice, or capitulation in such a way that weakens its sovereignty and makes it easier for Putin to gain control over Ukraine, then, without a doubt – and we can all agree on that – Poland will find itself in a much more difficult geopolitical situation.’
Jaroslaw Kaczy’nski, the head of Poland´s largest opposition party, the conservative Law and Justice, said a mental shift in society would also be needed in addition to the military training of men.
‘We will have a return to the chivalric ethos and to the fact that men should also be soldiers, that is, be able to expose themselves, even to death,’ Kaczy’nski said.
Talking to reporters later, Tusk cited the Swiss model as an example and added it would not be ‘mandatory, but there would be incentives that make men decide to undergo annual training and it is not just symbolic, not fake.’
Every Swiss man is obliged to serve in the military or an alternative civilian service. Swiss women can serve on a voluntary basis.
Tusk also said he supported Poland withdrawing from international conventions that ban the use of anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions.
Duda also proposed enshrining defence spending of at least 4 per cent of GDP in the constitution. The country is already NATO’s top spender on defence as a percentage of its overall economy, spending above 4 per cent of its GDP this year.
But Duda said he wanted to take advantage of the consensus on the political scene in Poland today on the matter to enshrine it in the highest law.
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