It was a big parade, but was it a show of strenght or weakness? The conversation in the aftermath of Polish Armed Forces Day continues. Experts on military matters are very concerned aboud the state of the Polish Army. Among them is the previous top commander who says that, in the past three years of Law and Justice being in power, nothing has improved.
President Andrzej Duda thanked Poland's soldiers for their service as the country celebrated Armed Forces Day on Wednesday. President's speech was followed by a military parade that was held for the first time on the Wisłostrada, a street running along the river Vistula.
After the president’s speech, the traditional annual military parade took place, involving nearly hundreds of soldiers, about 200 military vehicles, and some 100 airplanes and helicopters.
Although the parade may have been impressive to many spectators, many experts raise their concerns regarding the condition of military equipment. Some claim that whatever is being done with regards to modernisation of the army is just a drop in the sea of needs.
"I remember three years ago when Macierewicz spoke from the podium and said that the military was in terrible condition, but since then nothing has changed. We are just standing idly by and by doing so, we actually take a step back," said the former General Commander of Armed Forces, General Mirosław Różański.
Referring to Poland's NATO membership, the president stressed that the alliance led by the US "is a guarantee of security of its members."
The head of state said he was very glad that allied troops were stationed in Poland. "We are happy that in accordance with bilateral agreements there is a strong presence of the US army in Poland. But we want this presence to be permanent," he underlined, explaining that Poland needed it as the manifestation of the allied force and that unity "deters every potential aggressor."
President Duda also declared that it is Poland's ambition to have an army, which is as strong as possible, and able to independently ensure the country's security, so that allied troops could only play the role of a supporter when needed.
Expressing his gratitude to Poles joining the Territorial Defence Force, President Duda stressed that the new force was strengthening the potential of the Polish Army. He also thanked career soldiers for "their difficult everyday service, performed also outside Poland and as part of NATO's forward presence on its eastern flank, in Latvia or Romania."
The president declared that "everything would be done to make the Polish Army better equipped, to implement modernisation plans and to increase defence spending."
According to the head of state, there is a big chance that Poland's economic situation will continue to improve and that Poland will be growing wealthier.
"I believe that in such a situation we should be increasing defence outlays faster than initially planned. If the economic situation makes it possible, the growth of defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP should be completed by 2024 instead of 2030 as earlier planned.
"This is an ambitious goal but the Polish Army must be modernised. This is an urgent need and Polish soldiers deserve this modernisation," he went on to say, stressing that they deserved state-of-the-art weapons, "so that they could defend their homeland in the safest possible way as there is nothing more precious than the life of a soldier."
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, PAP