“Poland is part of NATO, the strongest military alliance in the history of the world, it must have an army so strong that it has sufficient deterrent power”, said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Sunday in the Warsaw town of Wesoła. Soldiers trained volunteers there as part of a special instalment of the “Train with the Army” project- “Train with NATO”, which was organised on the 24th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the Alliance.

The Head of Government, together with Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the Ministry of Defence Mariusz Błaszczak, visited the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade named after General Tadeusz Kościuszko in Wesoła on Sunday, where they met with participants of the ‘Train with NATO’ project.

“Building a strong army starts with strong public finances. It is from the Polish budget that we finance the Polish army today, purchases abroad, and the recapitalisation of our Polish armaments’ plants. We are going to strengthen the Polish army because we are convinced of this strate-giousness. It must be so strong that it preferably never has to be used”, stressed Morawiecki. 

The head of government reminded that Poland is part of NATO, the strongest military alliance in the history of the world, and Sunday marked the 24th anniversary of our country’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.

“Train with the Army” is a training course for civilians to learn the basics of military training and acquire skills that can be useful in emergency situations. The training sessions last eight hours and are led by military instructors. Volunteers are introduced to the basics of soldiering: they learn how to handle and shoot weapons, provide medical assistance, fight in close quarters and behave during an alarm.

The training is free of charge and is conducted by soldiers with many years of experience, including that of the Polish army’s missions abroad. Four thousand people were trained during the autumn part of the campaign.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński