Military spending boost to give Poland largest army in EU

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Poland plans to raise the country's defense spending to 4% of its GDP, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.

"The war in Ukraine has made us arm ourselves even faster, which is why we will make an unprecedented effort: 4% of GDP for the Polish army, this year," Morawiecki told reporters.

He said raising defense spending to their new target "could mean this will be the highest percentage ... of all NATO countries."

Poland spent 2.4% of its GDP on the military in 2022 -- the third-highest percentage among NATO countries. The US spends 3.47% -- $822 billion -- on defense.

Members of NATO are expected to reach spending at least 2% of GDP on defense by 2024.

Between now and 2035, Warsaw plans to spend $100 billion on the military. It has already spent $10 billion on arms from the US and South Korea, for tanks, howitzers, and advanced rocket systems.

Poland has signed a series of arms deals to raise its defensive capabilities in recent months.

The country's army is planned to grow to 250,000 professional soldiers and at least 50,000 personnel, making it the largest land army in the EU. France today has the biggest EU army, with about 200,000 on active duty.

Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said recently that Warsaw’s target was to increase the number of soldiers in the Polish armed forces to 300,000 -- 250,000 professional soldiers and 50,000 Territorial Defense Force (WOT) volunteers.

Poland now has about 36,000 WOT troops and around 128,000 soldiers of various formations.​​​​​​​