If Poland carries out its plans, it will have more tanks than Germany, France, Italy and Britain combined – emphasizes Jamie Shea, a longtime senior official at NATO headquarters, and now an expert associated with several scientific institutions , such as with the University of Exeter and the Chatham House think tank, among others.
Armaments of the Polish army
The Polish government is well aware of the threats to which the country is exposed, both from Russia and Belarus, and believes that NATO membership, however useful, cannot replace decisive defense action at the national level. Given the vast, relatively flat area that, as history shows, can be quickly and catastrophically invaded by foreign armies, it is not surprising that Poland emphasizes conventional ground and air defense.
– emphasizes Shea, who has been NATO spokesperson during the intervention in Kosovo (1999) and Deputy Assistant to the Secretary General of the Alliance for Emerging Security Challenges (2010-2018).
This means that the maritime defense aspect in the Baltic Sea will have to belong more to NATO and be shared with Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the US and Great Britain. Defense against unconventional threats such as cyber-attacks or sabotage of critical infrastructure, as well as energy security and social resilience will also require a high degree of cooperation with the EU and Poland’s transatlantic partners
analyzes the expert.
As he points out, “Poland has certainly taken the lead in conventional defense in NATO and if its procurement plans are implemented, it will have more tanks than Germany, France, Italy and Britain combined.”
Strengthening the importance of Poland
It remains an open question whether Poland can improve its relations with Germany and encourage Berlin to build NATO’s future conventional defense around joint Polish-German heavy armored divisions and integrated air and missile defences.
Jamie Shea wonders.
He recalls that if our country achieves its goal of spending 4% of total expenditure Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense will be twice the target of NATO, which is unique in Europe. Especially when you consider the difficulties other European countries – Germany, France, Italy – have in achieving this goal.
This will strengthen Poland’s leadership and the importance of Central and Eastern Europe in the Alliance
Shea predicts.
In the past, rapid economic growth allowed Law and Justice to provide voters with both defense and social spending. This financial and budgetary balance may be more difficult to maintain in the future if Poland’s economic growth slows and defense spending rises significantly
– warns.
The way out of this potential situation would be to ensure that defense investments bring real benefits to the Polish economy, the expert believes.
The government must ensure that defense spending benefits the Polish economy in terms of domestic production, technology transfer and foreign direct investment as part of the compensation for major defense contracts. They should be conducive to job creation for highly qualified specialists in the manufacturing and technology industry in Poland. In this way, the government will be able to argue that +weapons and butter+ are not mutually exclusive
concludes Jamie Shea.
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wkt/PAP
Source: wPolityce