Ministry of National Defence: Poland must have greater and stronger army
16:15
On April 11, the Polish Minister of National Defence Antoni Macierewicz visited Polish soldiers serving in Afghanistan, as a part of "Resolute Support" mission.
During the trip, the minister said in a speech: "If Poland wants to be independent and a sovereign state capable of being viable, it must have a greater and stronger army."
In turn, soldiers asked Macierewicz about army modernization programs, which are considered to be poor. The minister emphasized that it is problematic to estimate the cost of modernization - it is necessary to have at least PLN 235 billion for the program by 2020 instead of the PLN 130 billion previously indicated. Therefore "they [the ministry] were doing excellent work, but without ammunition, because of the lack of money."
The defence minister also announced other changes in the structure of the Polish army, including the creation of brigades for territorial defense (which must count 35,000 soldiers in 1.5 years) and the expansion of operational forces.
