The Polish Minister of Defense, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, said on Wednesday that the presence of a larger number of American troops in his country represents “a strategic objective”, to which is added the desire to have 500,000 soldiers to make the Polish army the largest in Europe, reports EFE, according to Agerpres.
Speaking at a defense conference, Kosiniak-Kamysz said that “without American troops (in bases in Europe, no) there is no secure Europe.”
Regarding the prospect of Poland hosting more US troops on its soil, the minister said it was something “we have been preparing for for a long time and now we are ready”.
The Pentagon announced a few days ago the withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers (out of a total of about 36,000) from German bases such as Ramstein and Grafenwohr, which will be completed in the coming months.
The Polish minister also emphasized that his country's goal is to build the strongest and most numerous army in Europe by 2030.
Kosiniak-Kamysz explained that his plan calls for a total of 500,000 troops, split between 300,000 career soldiers and 200,000 high availability reservists, a figure far higher than the 250,000 career soldiers and 50,000 paramilitaries called for in the National Defense Law.
“We live in pre-war times”
Regarding the current geopolitical situation, the head of Poland's defense establishment declared that his country is in a “state of emergency”.
“We are living in pre-war times, building a new security architecture,” he said, adding that “the only viable response is a strong increase in military investment.”
“It is urgent that (defense, no) expenditures reach 5% of GDP by the end of the decade because if we do it after, it might be too late,” the minister believes.
Also, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that Poland requested “the transfer of the production of Patriot launchers from the United States to Europe”, a project for which Warsaw has, according to the minister, “a priority interest”.
NATO 3.0
On the other hand, the Polish defense minister advocated the concept of “NATO 3.0”, a model recently proposed by Washington, according to which there should be a redistribution of tasks between the US and its allies.
“NATO 3.0” is a concept that has been criticized by international experts such as Sven Biscop, professor and director of the Egmont Institute (Belgium), for proposing a “multi-speed North Atlantic Alliance”.
This Pentagon idea is particularly criticized for creating hierarchies in intelligence, nuclear technology and critical capabilities, which could lead to political tensions between allies.
“It is not about an alliance with different speeds, but about a recognition of the allies, who, like Poland, are already investing massively in their own defense,” the Polish minister emphasized.
According to government sources, Poland has already allocated 4.7% of GDP to defense in 2025, with a record budget of almost 50 billion euros, the largest in NATO relative to its economy and 40% more than in 2024.
