Poland premier Donald Tusk previously warned in a statement to the country’s Sejm that his government may need to bolster its nuclear deterrent to fend off a Russian advance
Poland is placing its citizens on war footing due to the imminent threat from Russia by sending them pamphlets informing them on how to deal with “hazardous situations” and warning men they may have to undertake military training.
The threat of US withdrawal from Europe has seen much of the continent reconsider its military preparedness and capability, with the European Union having announced plans to rearm following Donald Trump and JD Vance’s recent inflammatory comments. The perceived lack of support – which is now fast becoming a reality – has also prompted a series of local European responses.
The UK led the charge in February when Sir Keir Starmer announced his government would raise GDP defence spending to 2.5 percent, an announcement that was welcomed by Washington but met with demands for more. Poland now appears to have outcompeted Britain with its latest announcement, with officials saying it may ask male Poles to undergo military training.
The country has more on the line than many of its European neighbours, as it borders both Ukraine and Russia, and saw the conflict spill onto its territory last year when Ukrainian munitions fell onto a Polish farmhouse. To respond to the growing threat, Robert Klonowski, the director of the Polish interior ministry’s civil protection unit, said citizens would soon receive preparatory pamphlets.
He said the public would receive a leaflet telling them “how to deal with various hazardous situations” including wartime tips advising them on the best way to cope with “a power outage lasting several days or several hours”. He said a version of the pamphlet would be released for both children and the roughly 900,000 Ukrainians who are now refugees in the country.
The news follows a recent speech by Polish premier Donald Tusk, who told the Sejm, Poland’s lower parliamentary house, that military training could help create a fighting force “adequate to possible threats”. He added that the country would also need to prepare for conflict using more modern means – namely nuclear weapons.
He said: “We must be aware that Poland must reach for the most modern capabilities also related to nuclear weapons and modern unconventional weapons…this is a race for security, not for war.”
