Poland to train ‘every adult male for war’

Berlin: Poland will train all adult men for war, the country’s prime minister said, as Warsaw seeks to shore up its defences against Russia.

Donald Tusk told the Polish parliament on Friday that his government would “prepare large-scale military training for every adult male in Poland”, as well as some women.

“We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war so that this reserve is comparable and adequate to the potential threats,” Tusk said.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks at the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday. European countries are preparing for a future without the United States in their corner.Credit: AP

The new training regimen would not amount to conscription, with Tusk stressing: “[we will] prepare it in such a way that it will not be a burden on people”.

Women would also be able to take part, but “war is still, to a greater extent, the domain of men”, he said.

He made the remarks as Europe looks to step up its own defences, amid concerns that US President Donald Trump is no longer committed to US security guarantees for Europe.

Firefighters at the scene of a Russian air attack in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Friday. Russia pounded Ukraine after the US decided to pause intelligence sharing that Kyiv used to anticipate and defend attacks.Credit: AP

Tusk also cautiously welcomed a recent offer by French President Emmanuel Macron to share his nuclear umbrella with other NATO allies in Europe.

“I would like to know, first of all, in detail what it means in terms of the authority over these weapons,” he said of the idea.

He went on to suggest that Poland would be safer if it had its own nuclear arsenal, but added that the prospect of acquiring one remained far off.

“Today, it is clear that we would be safer if we had our own nuclear arsenal, that is beyond doubt. In any case, the road to that would be very long and there would have to be a consensus too,” he said.

Jaroslaw Kaczyński, head of the country’s largest opposition party, the conservative Law and Justice, said a mental shift in society would also be needed in addition to the military training of men.

“We will have a return to the chivalric ethos and to the fact that men should also be soldiers, that is, be able to expose themselves, even to death,” Kaczyński said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said he was submitting an amendment to the country’s Constitution for consideration that would oblige it to spend at least 4 per cent of its gross domestic product each year on defence.

Poland ended conscription in 2008, but the debate over military service for Europe’s civilians has become an issue since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, particularly those nearer to the Russian frontier.

The incoming German government, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, led by Friedrich Merz, is said to be considering a return to conscription of some form.

Merz, who swept to victory in last month’s elections, has also called for the French and British nuclear umbrella to be extended to his country, as the United States has become “indifferent to the fate of Europe”.

The Telegraph, London