Poland's upper house of parliament, the Senate, unanimously approved on Thursday a homeland defence bill, which main aim is to increase budget spending on defence, increase the number of Polish troops, re-launching of military reserve force, as well as advancing military training capabilites. The bill will now be sent to President Andrzej Duda, whose office announced he would sign it as soon as possible.
All 97 senators who took part in Thursday's vote were in favour of the draft legislation, no one was against, and no one abstained.
The Homeland Defence bill is composed of more than 820 articles specified on 450 pages and pertains, among other things, to an increase of defense spending. If passed, the legislation would set the minimum annual spending on defence at 2.2% of the GDP in 2022, at at least 3% in 2023 and the following years.
According to the bill, which was passed by the lower house last Friday, the Council of Ministers will be bound to set out detailed direction of the overhaul and technological modernisation of the Armed Forces every 4 years, taking into account defensive needs. Based on these and the NATO guidelines, the minister of defense will introduce adequate programme of Armed Forces development.
The government has said it planned to lessen the impact on the budget by funding the expansion partly through government-secured bonds issued by state development bank BGK, in addition to treasury bonds, the state budget and profits from the central bank.
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said the bill would raise the number of soldiers in the Polish army to 300,000 as part of a five-year plan. Poland currently has around 143,500 soldiers.
"There will be a framework for having one of the strongest armies in NATO," Błaszczak said. "Our Fatherland needs such a Polish Army, especially now, when the evil empire is trying to be reborn across our eastern border."
Moscow's assault on Ukraine has shaken NATO-member Poland, where memories of Soviet domination after World War Two run deep.
Poland has kept its annual defence spending to 2% of GDP in recent years, in line with its commitment to NATO.
"We are aware of the limitations that result from EU regulations on the 3% budget deficit," Kaczyński said. "We are holding talks and there is a chance that military expenditure will not be included in the budget deficit, it is very important."
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP