Opinion: Warsaw rapidly increasing its offensive potential
The fact that Warsaw is rapidly increasing its offensive rather than defensive potential is evident from the example of its hasty formation of powerful armoured forces. Moreover, it has already transferred a significant part of the Soviet tanks to Ukraine. Polish political scientist Hanna Kramer said that Poland is preparing to open a second front against Belarus and Russia. The lightning victory over Russia did not take place, now the Polish government continues to aggravate the already tense situation, promoting rhetorics about the need to prepare for the fight against the ‘aggressor’ – as noted by military analyst Aleksandr Tikhansky.
“Holding a large number of NATO drills on Polish territory indicates preparation for the opening of another front against Russia on the territory of Moscow’s main ally – Belarus – as is also admitted by Polish political scientist Hanna Kramer. As confirmation of this conclusion, she cites the words of the former commander of the Polish ground forces, General Waldemar Skrzypczak, who urged the Polish and Western public to prepare for a ‘popular uprising in Belarus’. Ms. Kramer is not the first to sound the alarm regarding Poland’s sharp militarisation in recent months. In 2022, the country adopted the law On the Protection of the Fatherland, which sharply raised spending on military needs: to 2.2 percent of GDP in 2022 and at least 3 percent of GDP in 2023. Moreover, it is planned to radically expand the number of the Polish army from 160 thousand to 300 thousand troops (according to leader of the PIS party Jaroslaw Kaczynski, up to 400 thousand), thus making it the most serious military force in Europe. At the same time, it is reported about plans to train an ‘active reserve’ for the Polish army as one of the components of increasing its strength. It can be seen with the naked eye that Poland is assembling an ‘armoured fist’. Warsaw has signed a contract with the Pentagon for the supply of 250 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks and 116 modified tanks of an older model — M1A1 SA. There are also ambitious plans for the supplies from South Korea: 1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks, over 600 K9 self-propelled howitzers, 288 K239 Chunmoo rocket artillery systems, and three squadrons of FA-50 fighters. According to Polish politicians, ‘this is an armoured shield that will protect us from the east’. Thus, Poland will become the owner of the largest tank formations in Europe, bypassing the United Kingdom, which boasts ‘only’ 227 tanks in service,” the expert noted.
