Poland’s Growing Military Power and Role as NATO Buffer State against Belarus

Like every year on August 15, the Polish army is in the spotlight today during the Day of the Polish Armed Forces (Święto Wojska Polskiego). It is day to commemorate the Battle of Warsaw of 2020, a major victory of the Poles over the Russian Bolsheviks after World War I.

That victory is celebrated with as much power as possible. The Polish army shows off its latest weapons during a military parade in the capital Warsaw. This year it should be the largest parade since the fall of communism in Poland in 1989. Polish citizens have been asked to come and watch with as many people as possible.

Because the Polish government is only too happy to show what it has to offer. Especially now that the country is facing an increasing threat from neighboring Belarus. Last week, Poland moved several thousand soldiers to the east of the country because of the presence of the Russian mercenary army Wagner and exercises by the Belarusian army. “Provocations” from Putin and his Belarusian ally Lukashenko, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

According to official figures, the Polish army now has about 175,000 soldiers. Of those, roughly 70,000 to 80,000 are soldiers, says Marek Swierczynski, a defense analyst at the Polityka Insight think tank in Warsaw. “There are plans to further expand the air force and Poland has bought 48 FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea. They are not yet operational but are already being displayed today during the military parade. It is part of a process and this is only the beginning for Poland. It is certainly not the end.”

According to Swierczynski, the threat from Russia and Belarus is not the only reason for the build-up of troops at the border. “Lessons were learned from the border crisis with Belarus in 2021, when Poland was overwhelmed by the sudden influx of migrants [uitgelokt door Loekasjenko -red.] and the confrontations that followed. The Polish government is playing it safe this time and wants to be better prepared. Especially with the Polish elections coming up this fall,” he says.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s most important allies since the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, with which the country shares a border of more than 500 kilometers. When the bombs were still falling on Kyiv, Prime Minister Morawiecki and his colleagues from the Czech Republic and Slovenia were the first heads of government to travel to the Ukrainian capital.

Poland donates billions to Ukraine, was the first NATO country to deliver tanks, and also the first (MiG-29) fighter jets. In addition, many weapons that Ukraine receives from allies are delivered overland from Poland. “That is of crucial importance for Ukraine,” says military expert Swierczynski. “Poland and Ukraine are connected like never before in modern history.”

Double de Navo standard

While the right-wing populist government of Poland does not make friends within the EU in the field of energy (keeping lignite mines open) and especially the rule of law (no independence of judges and putting Polish laws above EU laws), it does in the military field. otherwise.

Poland, in contrast to the Netherlands and others, amply meets the NATO standard of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence. The Polish government is only increasing this year and wants to reach 4 percent of GDP, which would put it proportionally more on defense than all other NATO countries.

“Poland is really becoming a front state against Belarus,” says defense expert Patrick Bolder (HCSS). According to him, this is reflected in the modernization of the Polish army, which replaces Soviet-era equipment with Western equipment, a process that has been going on for some time. He also points to the growing number of NATO regional headquarters in Poland.

Bolder: “With a large land army, Poland is the ideal buffer state for NATO and is therefore also growing in importance. The northeast of Poland, the so-called Suwalki corridor, is strategically very important for NATO, because it is the only land connection of NATO- countries with the Baltic states and because it isolates the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad from Belarus and Russia, especially now.”

2023-08-15 07:31:32
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