Trump Effect: Poland to Increase Defence Spending to Five Per Cent, Build a Half Million Man Army, Says PM Tusk

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a number of new initiatives to bolster defence in a speech in Warsaw, as European powers appear set to comply with U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands that the continent pay for its own protection rather than relying on America.

Speaking before the Sjem parliament, Prime Minister Tusk declared Friday: “Hope is no substitute for strategy. Hope is a beautiful feeling, but in politics, it is often adjacent to naivety or illusion… Today, Europe is beginning to understand that since the United States expects much greater outlays, determination and courage from us, it must be met.”

Despite already being one of the top spenders in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on NATO defence at around 4 per cent, Poland should increase its spending to at least five per cent of GDP, Tusk said, according to the Gazeta Wyborcza.

This goal puts Poland in line with Estonia and Lithuania as the first countries in Europe to agree to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for NATO allies to increase their defence spending to at least five per cent of GDP compared to the current baseline of two per cent, which is still unmet by many within the alliance.

Additionally, Prime Minister Tusk called for Poland to build an army of at least half a million people, including reservists, up from around 200,000 today. To help accomplish this aim, the Polish leader called for the return of military training for all adult men in the country.

Tusk denied that this would represent a form of universal military service, saying that it would function more like the Swiss reservist model, in which every man is required to either serve in the military or join another civil service.

Finally, the prime minister also said that Warsaw may consider withdrawing from international treaties such as the Ottawa Treaty and Dublin Convention, which prohibit the use of land mines and cluster bombs.

“We are dealing with a profound correction of American geopolitics. We cannot be offended by reality. Every country, especially a power such as the United States, has the right and obligation to shape its foreign policy and strategy,” Tusk told the Polish parliament.
“Poland is not changing its opinion on maintaining the closest possible bond with the United States and the North Atlantic Pact, and at the same time we need to know what is happening.”

“This correction primarily concerns the [US]’s change of attitude towards the two warring parties in Ukraine. To Ukraine and Russia. It is not our job to review for the sake of satisfaction and rhetoric the policies of our greatest ally. Our task is to draw conclusions for our safety from these moves and from this change.”

The announcement of Poland doubling down on its defence comes amid a broader movement across Europe to increase military spending following the re-election of President Donald Trump in the United States.

Trump has long been critical of European nations, preeminent economic powers such as Germany, failing to meet their minimum NATO spending requirements while funding lavish welfare programmes and sending money to Moscow for natural gas.

While German politicians previously mocked Trump for warning against overreliance on Russian energy, his warnings were later vindicated following the invasion of Ukraine, after which the Kremlin took retaliatory action against EU sanctions by cutting off natural gas flows to Germany.

Berlin also appears set to invest heavily in its own defence. The likely next coalition government agreed earlier this week to change rules on debt spending to fund a trillion euro ($1.08 trillion) investment in German defence and infrastructure. The European Union is also preparing measures to help member states finance fresh defence spending.

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