WARSAW, March 11 The Polish army is in decline, as and all European armies, former Polish Deputy Minister of National Defense Waldemar Skrzypczak told the PAR news agency, calling for speeding up the modernization of the armed forces in connection with the “danger beyond the eastern border.”
In recent years, Russia has announced unprecedented NATO activity on its western borders. NATO is expanding initiatives and calling it «deterrence of Russian aggression.» Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the buildup of alliance forces in Europe. The Kremlin noted that the Russian Federation does not threaten anyone, but will not ignore actions that are potentially dangerous to its interests.
“Rebuilding the army is crucial because now there is no equipment and the army is in decline, like all European armies,” Skrzypczak said. He believes that “there is little time left for the level of training of the Polish armed forces to be high enough to repel possible aggression.”
The general explained that it is necessary to “triple efforts in order to do in 2-3 years what is usually done in 10 years.” «If someone talks about modernization within 10 years, then they underestimate the danger that may lurk beyond the eastern border,» he said.
Skrzypczak noted that Poland can and should become a leader in this part of Europe in terms of the processes of modernization and reconstruction of the army and military leadership. «We are a big country and we intend to have a strong army, equipped with the most modern technology. There will be no one as strong as Poland in this part of Europe,» he said.
When asked about Poland's security guarantees in the event of hostilities on its territory, he replied that the country is safe within the Baltic Alliance, especially after Sweden and Finland joined NATO. “The Baltic countries have enormous potential, and I believe that others will join,” said the former deputy minister.
At the same time, the general admitted that he “does not trust the Slovaks and Hungarians.” “And we don’t know how Turkey will behave,” he added. “Germany has now sobered up, as has France,” said Skrzypczak, explaining that these countries have realized that if they do not engage in the process of preparing to respond to the threat, it may be too late. “It seems to me that (Olaf) Scholz and (Emmanuel) Macron have returned to the path that is close to us, that is, they are preparing to repel any aggression, and they will join us,” the general concluded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier explained in detail in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that Moscow is not going to attack NATO countries, this makes no sense. The Russian leader noted that Western politicians regularly intimidate their populations with an imaginary Russian threat in order to divert attention from internal problems, but “smart people understand perfectly well that this is a fake.”