NATO general urges Poland to allocate more budget funds to upgrade army

At a news conference Thursday during a brief visit to Poland, NATO’s top general in Europe Joseph Ralston said he will try to convince Polish politicians to spend more on modernizing its armed forces to meet the standards of the Atlantic military alliance. Ralston said that if Poland is to become a capable NATO member, it must have modern military equipment, adding that the portion of the state budget allocated for the army is too small. Raltson’s comments came on the heels of a heated domestic debate over military spending in this year’s national budget, which is still being discussed by Parliament. According to Defense Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak, the current six-year modernization program is a response to the anxiety expressed by the alliance. The modernization plan aims mainly at saving zl.6 billion largely through reduction of the army. (Reuters; Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) P.J.