‘We will try to have a ready model by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war,’ Polish PM Donald Tusk said, citing concerns that Ukraine is now unlikely to receive ‘hard security guarantees’ from the US.
WARSAW, Poland (LifeSiteNews) -- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Friday that his country is preparing to encourage military training for all adult males by the end of 2025.
“Work is underway to prepare large-scale military training for every adult male in Poland… [to] allow these people to become full-fledged soldiers in conflict situations,” said Tusk during an address to parliament.
“We will try to have a ready model by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war,” he continued. “So that this reserve [force] is truly matched to and sufficient to meet potential threats.”
Tusk afterwards told journalists the details of the plans are still being worked out and will be announced “in the coming weeks,” according to Notes from Poland. He suggested that the military training will not necessarily be compulsory.
“We have several [potential] models. One of the most appreciated is the Swiss model [under which training] is not compulsory but there are incentives that make men undergo annual training,” said Tusk, as reported by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). In Switzerland, adult males must complete either military service or an alternative civilian service.
“It must become a habit, an obvious tradition that every healthy man in Poland should want to train in case of [the necessity to] defend the homeland,” continued the prime minister. “[But] we will prepare it in such a way that it will not be a torment for people – so that they want [to do it].”
He added that the military training will be “open to both sexes,” but acknowledged that war “is associated more with men.”
Tusk explained to Parliament that the plans for large-scale military training are occasioned by a “more difficult” security situation for Poland, and Ukraine “in particular.”
The prime minister pointed out that there is now less chance that Ukraine will receive “hard security guarantees” from the U.S. amid any peace deal with Russia, which he said renders neighboring Poland more insecure.
This remark follows a heated exchange between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump, after which Trump commented he has “determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Poland has ramped up its defense spending to 4.7 percent of its GDP this year, a higher proportion than any other NATO country. As of last year, Poland had the third-largest military in NATO, and the largest in Europe.
