Poland pledges to spend 4% of GDP on defence in 2023
The Polish prime minister has said that his government will spend four percent of GDP on defence this year, to strengthen Poland’s army amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki meets reporters in the eastern city of Siedlce, on Monday, January 30, 2023.PAP/Przemysław Piątkowski
Mateusz Morawiecki made the announcement at a news conference on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The PM, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, met with the media during a visit to the Polish Army’s 18th Mechanised Division, which is stationed in the eastern city of Siedlce.
Morawiecki said: “The Polish people have voted us into power at a difficult time. The war in Ukraine means that we have to arm ourselves even faster.”
He stated: “And so this year we’ll make an unprecedented effort, spending four percent of GDP on the Polish army. It may turn out to be the biggest percentage of GDP allocated for the army among all NATO member countries.”
The PM added: “This will serve as clear evidence for every state that we are going to defend our land, that Poland is secure, that Poland is going to be ever more secure as we work with our allies.”
“Today, the Polish army is bigger by more than one fourth than in 2015,” Morawiecki told reporters in Siedlce.
He noted that the government was also buying “state-of-the-art military equipment” for the armed forces, including tanks, gun howitzers, artillery rocket systems and air-defence systems.
“We are going to defend every inch of Polish land,” the PM stressed.
(pm)
Source: PAP, polsatnews.pl, forsal.pl
