Modernisation of the Polish Army

In 2017, we established the Territorial Defence Forces, which already number tens of thousands of soldiers. In 2018, we created the 18th Mechanised Division, which now uses state-of-the-art military equipment. Additionally, in 2022, we established the Cyberspace Defence Forces Component Command, which is a new branch of the armed forces - the Cyberspace Defence Forces.

“Poland is in this group of the strongest alliance, the strongest military alliance in the history of the world. We can say for sure that it is becoming increasingly secure - I emphasise, increasingly secure, because there is never enough investment in our armed forces,” said the Prime Minister.

More money for the Polish army

NATO members, as required, should spend a minimum of 2 per cent of GDP on defence. Poland is meeting this obligation. We are increasing defence spending - we allocate 4 per cent of our GDP. We are spending additional billions of zlotys for the modernisation of the army, including the purchase of both domestic and foreign military equipment.

“We started by repairing public finances, repairing our budget full of holes. From this budget, today we allocate almost four times more funds than in 2015 for arming the army, for equipping the army, for increasing the size of the army,” stressed Mateusz Morawiecki, the head of the Polish government.

It is the good situation of public finances that enables the modernisation of our army. Stable and increasing revenues to the state budget allow for greater investment in the security of our homeland.

Restoring defunct military units

At the Polish-Belarusian border, which is also the eastern border of the European Union, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed that some military units had been decommissioned by 2015. These included:

• Marshal Józef Piłsudski Ciechanów Artillery Regiment,
• Siedlce Reconnaissance Battalion,
• Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw Mechanised Division.

“Unfortunately, our predecessors liquidated military units, closed down military units. It was a reprehensible move, a wrong move - a very irresponsible move. Today we are rectifying these mistakes. We have already done it in many places and we are expanding the army thanks to fixing public finances in many areas,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Białystok.

In previous years, the threat from the East was downplayed and the policy of reducing the army was a misguided policy that led nowhere.

Barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border

We care about the safety of all Poles, which is why we decided last year to build a barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border, the eastern border of the European Union. This construction protects us against illegal crossing of our border.

“Lukashenko and Putin tried to push in illegal Muslim migrants from Middle Eastern countries. They specifically took them from Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, from various Middle Eastern countries. Why? Because it was a test. We passed this test,” stressed the head of the Polish government.

In 2022, we built a physical barrier on the Podlasie part of the border with Belarus, a 5.5-metre high fence made of steel spans topped with razor wire. In June 2023, work was completed to equip the barrier with 3,000 day/night and thermal imaging cameras, 400 km of detection cables and 11 teletechnical boxes. The barrier was installed in response to attempts at mass illegal crossing of the Polish-Belarusian border.

“We saw the action of Lukashenko and Putin in 2021. At that time, opposition representatives said that this barrier would not be built even for 3 years. Others still said that we will never make the barrier, that it is not necessary to build it,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recalled in Krynki near the Polish-Belarusian border.

Ensuring internal and external security is the Polish raison d'état. The barrier is a demonstration of our effectiveness and proof of our responsibility. The implementation of the investment has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of recorded incidents related to migration pressure.