In an interview published on Sunday, February 27, for the newspapers of the German media group Funke, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that a strong European army is necessary, and Poland intends to increase the financing of the state’s defense to an amount of up to 4% GDP, i.e. about PLN 100 billion a year.

Poland will ultimately reserve from 3 to 4% of its GDP for defense budgets, which could break EU debt rules. “Poland cannot be punished for defending Germany, Austria and other countries against Russia’s aggressive policy that wants to attack the EU and NATO’s eastern flank”, said the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the draft law on the defense of the Fatherland, which will be dealt with by the Sejm this week, provides that this year the state will spend at least 2.2% of GDP on financing its defense, then 2.3% in 2023, and from 2024 – 2.5%. Assuming that 1% of GDP equals about PLN 24 billion, this is an expenditure of PLN 60 billion. Prime Minister Morawiecki confirmed, that the expenses reaching 4% of GDP mean the amount of approx. PLN 100 billion.

Prime Minister Morawiecki said in an interview that he had proposed creating a very strong European army, integrated with NATO.

“The European Union should double its defense spending from the current approximately EUR 300 billion to EUR 500-600 billion. It is not impossible. It would be advisable to exclude these measures from the 3% debt limit in the Maastricht Treaty. “Only in this way, the EU can become a “global player”. Only in this way will we all be safe”, said the head of the Polish government.

Prime Minister Morawiecki asked the European Commission to consider this request as soon as possible.

Moreover, in the opinion of the Polish Prime Minister, all countries should be significantly strengthened by sending troops and increasing the amount of military equipment. Poland alone is planning to host 20,000 to 30,000 additional NATO soldiers, in addition to the 6,000 soldiers who are already here – added Morawiecki.

Adrian Andrzejewski