Poland Doubles Defense Budget Due to Russian Threat

Against the background of Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine, Poland plans to spend 4 percent of its gross domestic product on defence this year. That is double compared to 2021.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced this on Monday.

“This may be the highest percentage of all NATO countries,” the prime minister said during a visit to an army base in Siedlce, in eastern Poland. It would be about 25 billion euros.

Poland shares a border of more than 500 kilometres with Ukraine. Poland announced last summer that it would invest significantly more in the army. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice party, then mentioned a target of 5 percent.

Last year, Warsaw ordered 250 Abrams tanks from the US and signed a multibillion-dollar deal with South Korea to supply 400 main battle tanks and 212 Howitzers.

The Polish armed forces currently number 164,000 soldiers, including 36,000 members of the voluntary internal security units. In the coming years, the military is expected to grow to 250,000 regulars and 50,000 members of homeland security.