2023-08-17 11:02:00
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Poland sends a signal to Russia with a military parade. The announced rearmament could make the country militarily the strongest in Europe.
Warsaw – Poland on Tuesday (15 August) the largest military parade in recent decades was held in Warsaw. The date is symbolic: on this day in 1920, troops from newly reunified Poland stopped the Red Army attack on the outskirts of Warsaw. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the “Miracle of the Vistula” has been commemorated on this day. However, this year’s arms show eclipsed all previous parades.
The country celebrated “Polish Army Day” with a demonstration of 200 Polish and foreign military units, 92 aircraft and 2,000 soldiers, as the Polish Ministry of Defense announced before the parade. The parade showcased some of the latest technologies in Poland’s armory. These include US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks, South Korean K2 tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS missile launchers, Polish Krab self-propelled howitzers, as well as US-made Patriot missile battery systems, which are part of the Polish “WISŁA” air defense system.
Poland demonstrates military strength after tensions with Belarus
Polandnot only to the Ukraine and Belarus, but also borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, sent a message with this impressive show of power that Russia and Belarus would certainly understand, experts emphasized. Polish President Andrzej Duda underlined the importance of Poland’s eastern border for the European Union and NATO and declared it a key element of Polish state interests. He also announced a record defense budget. The army is said to almost double in size.
Currently, Poland’s armed forces number 172,500 men and women, including tens of thousands in the Homeland Security volunteer units. In the coming years, that number is expected to increase to 300,000, including homeland security units. A week ago, Poland announced that it would move thousands of additional soldiers to its eastern border because the Concerns about the presence of the Russian mercenary force Wagner in Belarus are growing.
Defending our eastern border, the border of the European Union and NATO, is a key element of the Polish national interest today.
More tanks than four major European armies together: Poland soon to be a military superpower?
Before 2014, like many other NATO countries, Poland spent less than the agreed two percent of its gross domestic product on defense. This has changed dramatically since Russia annexed Crimea. According to official NATO figures, spending in 2023 will be 4 percent. Measured as a share of GDP, Poland is the country with the largest investments, ahead of the USA.
Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and now Professor of Strategy and Security at the University of Exeter in England and a Fellow of Chatham House, explained the dimensions of the planned rearmament to CNN. “If they stay the course with all these different procurement plans, they will be the European military superpower of the EU and NATO,” Shea said. “If they buy all the tanks from the US, the Abrams tanks and the tanks they ordered from South Korea, plus modernize what they have at the moment, they will have more tanks than France, Germany, Italy and Britain combined ‘ the former NATO official added.
Military parade in Poland: Polish soldiers present modern military equipment. © IMAGO/Dominika Zarzycka
Poland is one of Ukraine’s most important allies
Poland has become an important ally of Ukraine. Most Western military supplies and other supplies enter Ukraine through Poland. The country is thus the linchpin of Western efforts to support Ukraine. A large part of the training of Ukrainian soldiers also takes place in Poland. Also, several repair shops for Leopard tanks were established in Poland. Many injured Ukrainian soldiers are being treated in Polish hospitals. According to the United Nations, the country has so far taken in 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees.
However, Poland’s national-conservative government, led by the PiS (Law and Justice) party, reserves the right to favor its electorate – sometimes to the chagrin of Ukraine. In April, Poland halted grain imports from Ukraine. The government wanted to protect its agriculture from duty-free cheap competition from the war country. The EU sharply criticized this import ban, which Hungary and Slovakia had also imposed.
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Poland and the EU: United in the Ukraine war – political tensions in the rule of law
Although most other EU member states and Poland are pulling in the same direction over the Ukraine war, there are political tensions. The government has been undermining the rule of law and exerting political influence on the judiciary for years. Most recently, the government tried to discredit the most promising opposition politician Donald Tusk with the “Lex Tusk” and to ban him from political offices for years.
Because of numerous violations of EU law, the EU is holding back billions that should actually go to Poland. The European Court of Justice had ruled that the PiS government’s judicial reform violated EU law. The opposition fears a further dismantling of Polish democracy if the PiS wins the parliamentary elections again in October.
Poland before the elections: Security could decide
Observers also point out that the military parade not only Wladimir Putin to demonstrate Poland’s military capabilities. It is also about assuring one’s own population that the government is committed to their security. “Security issues are very important alongside the economy and living standards, which is not surprising considering there is a war going on on the Polish border,” Aleks Szczerbiak, professor and head of the political department at the University of Sussex in England, told CNN .
“It is absolutely crucial for the government to be re-elected that it demonstrates its security competence,” he said. The issue cuts across the political spectrum, he added. The military build-up also has a domestic political dimension, which is important for the election campaign that has already started. (papel)
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