By The Polish prime minister announced Friday that his government is preparing to require every adult male to undergo “large-scale military training” to more than double the size of the army in the event of a war with Russia.
Donald Tusk added that Poland would also drastically expand its arsenal, saying the country “must pursue the most advanced capabilities, including nuclear and modern unconventional weapons.”
Tusk unveiled the plans in a speech to the Polish Parliament on the same day that President Donald Trump, after weeks of weakening U.S. support for Ukraine and traditional European allies, threatened to impose expanded “large scale” sanctions and tariffs on Russia until it reaches a peace agreement with Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.Aleksandra Szmigiel / REUTERS
“We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war, so that this reserve is comparable and adequate to the potential threats,” Tusk said.
Many of Poland’s leaders were shocked when Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago. Once behind the so-called Iron Curtain under Communism and controlled by the Soviet Union, Poland is a longtime enemy of Russia.
Tusk told lawmakers he also wants to increase the size of the Polish army to 500,000, from its current level of around 200,000.
Polish soldiers at the first part of the East Shield at the border with Russia, in Dabrowka, Poland, in November. Damian Lemanski / Bloomberg / Getty Images
“We’re talking about the need to have an army of half-a-million in Poland, including the reservists,” he said.
Polish women may also be required to undergo military training, Tusk said, but “war is still to a greater extent the domain of men.”
That said, there are more than 7,000 women currently on active duty in the Polish army, according to government figures. And there is a long history of Polish women fighting for their country on the front lines, including as guerrilla fighters during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Germans.
Currently, the Ukrainian army has 800,000 soldiers and is fighting a Russian force that numbers around 1.3 million, Tusk said.
As a member of NATO, which was set up after World War II to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union, Poland has been one of the most dependable U.S. allies as well as a stalwart supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Russian troops occupying the Polish city of Vilno in 1939. Keystone-France / Getty Images file
But the Polish government has become increasingly worried about the country’s security since Trump made the false claim that the Ukrainians had started the war with Russia and then halted U.S. military aid and intelligence help to Ukraine.
Trump also has a history of questioning the U.S.’s traditional responsibilities as a member of the U.S.-led alliance.
Even as Trump was threatening Moscow with sanctions Friday, he complained that he was “finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.”
A demonstrator holds a sign that reads “Russia is a terrorist state” as she stands between national flags of Ukraine and Poland in Warsaw.NurPhoto / Getty Images
More than 7 million Ukrainians fled across the border into Poland in the early days of the war. And, as of February, nearly a million Ukrainian refugees remained in Poland, according to the latest statistics.
