Poland remains the leader in NATO in terms of defence spending. Citing data from the German economic research institute IFO, the Belgian news agency Belga reported that Warsaw spent 3.9 % of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year.

For many years, it has been the United States that has led the way in arms spending relative to the size of the national economy. In July last year, it was overtaken by Poland, followed by Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland. Finland was included in the ranking only a few months after joining NATO and was among 11 countries out of 31 that meet the requirement of at least 2 % of GDP on defence.

The 2 % of GDP requirement is a 2014 Allied commitment made in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine, in the Donbass. It has been 10 years since then, and although the situation in terms of defence spending has improved, as initially only four countries met this requirement, there are still many countries failing to meet this commitment.

According to IFO data, Luxembourg spends the least on defence – 0.7 % of GDP, Belgium is second from last with expenditure of just over 1 % of GDP, and Spain takes the third inglorious position.

Deputy Minister of Defence Stanisław Wziątek said that this year’s budget for the army, which also includes the Armed Forces Support Fund, amounts to 4.2 % of GDP – over PLN 150 billion.

“We are checking whether the contracts signed so far implement this modernisation step by step, whether there was no chaos in these activities. In no case are we now talking about actions related to withdrawing from anything. The projects that have been contracted are interesting, but they need to be examined carefully. We want to check all this calmly and prepare such equipment for the Polish army that the military will have full operational readiness”, said the deputy minister.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński