In an opinion piece posted on the nationalinterest.org website, Charlie Gao, a commentator on defence and national-security issues, said that Poland “won't be a pushover in a fight” and that it “has some impressive ways to strike back.”
He added that Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party is working to increase military spending and reform the country’s military.
One of the centerpieces of the ruling conservatives’ defence policy is the creation of a new branch of the Polish military known as the Territorial Defence Force (WOT), Goa noted, adding that the force is largely designed to counter hybrid warfare by Russia.
In addition to the usual roles of protection of key infrastructure and supplemental security for military targets, the force, with a planned manpower of around 50,000 men, is expected to help counter disinformation campaigns, counter cyber operations, support patriotic ideals, and help stabilise situations of crisis, Goa said in his piece.
Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said in May that the territorial defence force set up by Poland in 2016 had grown to more than 20,000 soldiers.
Błaszczak also said at the time that the expansion of the Territorial Defence Force was “one of the elements of the defence and deterrence potential of the Polish Army.” He added that the process was “taking place very dynamically."
When it was created in 2016, officials said the new force was needed in the face of an aggressive Russia.
(gs)
Source: nationalinterest.org