Poland unveils plan to become major military power
Poland has unveiled a new national plan that ensures it has a stronger army than any of its neighbours.
'Our army must be able to repel any threat,' Donald Tusk, the prime minister, said on Friday as he announced the 'Piast Doctrine', named after the country's founding dynasty.
Mr Tusk said the plan would have three central aims: for Poland to have 'the strongest army in the region, the strongest economy in the region and a strong position in the European Union.'
'We are ready to build the strongest army in this part of the world. We do this together, regardless of our views,' he added.
The prime minister did not define what he meant by strongest army or economy, and it was not clear if he meant that Warsaw should be militarily stronger than Russia, with whom it shares a 130-mile border.
'There is a certain level of strategic ambiguity about what they [Poland] want – they will let the Russians speculate' said Natalie Vogel, a research fellow at the IWP Center for Intermarium Studies.
Poland, which spends 4.7 per cent of its GDP on defence, already has Nato's third largest military after a rapid rearmament programme that doubled the size of the armed forces in just a decade.
Mr Tusk said the new doctrine would cement the country's pro-West orientation.
'Putting the crown on his head, Boleslaw the Brave announced that the kingdom of Poland was becoming part of the West – the West as a political community, a community of values, a community of religion,' Mr Tusk told the crowd at a ceremony in Gniezno marking the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of the first Polish king.
'This choice, constantly renewed, sometimes questioned by our enemies, sometimes questioned by some in Poland, requires constant effort – and it is still, and will always be, relevant,' he added.
Ms Vogel said the Polish prime minister's words were 'a high level of psychological warfare, to demonstrate that they are the Europeans that are able to defend the Nato eastern flank including the Baltic state against Russian invasion'.
She added that this 'toughened up' language was also intended to combat the threat from the Right-wing opposition Law & Justice party ahead of this year's presidential election.
Mr Tusk's call on Friday for Poland to become an economic powerhouse came on the same day the Warsaw stock exchange's WIG index topped 100,000 points for the first time, a symbolic milestone reflecting the country's sustained growth.
Polish households have earned more than Spanish ones since 2023, and some economic predictions show they are due to overtake British households by 2030.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russian War Casualties Top One Million as Ukraine Strikes Deep Into Russia
As the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian War enters its fourth calendar year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Thursday that Russian casualties have exceeded one million. In a statement posted on June 12, Zelenskyy described the figure as 'the price Putin is willing to pay for his sick geopolitical fantasies,' underscoring the staggering human cost of Russia's invasion, which began on February 24, 2022. The figure is in line with estimates from Western defense officials. The U.K. Ministry of Defence and the Associated Press both reported that Russia has suffered over one million casualties, including roughly 250,000 deaths. Zelenskyy also touted a recent covert operation, codenamed SpiderWeb, which damaged 41 Russian aircraft—worth an estimated $7 billion—at airbases deep inside Russian territory. According to the report, the attack hit bombers and surveillance planes used in missile strikes. The Ukrainian president urged Western nations to tighten sanctions on Russian oil exports, backing a European Union proposal to lower the oil price cap from $60 to $45 per barrel. Ukraine's government claims Russia lost $4 billion in oil revenue in early 2025 alone. Framing the war as a global security issue, Zelenskyy called for more military aid and stronger partnerships with NATO and the EU. 'No country can afford to stay behind in defense tech,' he said.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Grandson of Moorcroft founder buys bust firm
Moorcroft Pottery, which stopped trading at the end of April after more than 100 years in business, has been returned to family ownership. The company has been bought by Will Moorcroft, whose grandfather William Moorcroft built the factory on Sandbach Road in Cobridge in 1913, with support from London department store Liberty. The firm had remained in the family until 2006 when Mr Moorcroft's father retired. "It's nice to have the opportunity to bring it back into the family fold," Mr Moorcroft said. "I'm very proud to have been able to pick up the keys." Mr Moorcroft said he would like to see "as many of the staff as we can bring back" but that he was unable to guarantee all 57 workers would be able to return. "We'll do our best to make it work, and get everybody back who wants to come back doing what they do best, which is producing beautiful Moorcroft," he said. He added that they were considering moving production away from the site in Burslem, moving the firm solely to the original factory on Sandbach Road. The brand was popular with US presidents and British prime ministers, and has a following among collectors around the world. After winning a number of prestigious international awards, Moorcroft was appointed as potter to Queen Mary in 1928. The firm's royal patronage continued when the late Queen Elizabeth II added Moorcroft designs into the Royal Collection. In March, bosses at the firm warned of redundancies, stating their energy costs had gone up by almost £250,000 over the past two years. On 30 April they issued a statement that the company was to be liquidated. Mr Moorcroft said issues such as energy costs and global markets did weigh heavily on his mind, and that refreshing the brand would take hard work. "The faith in the product is there," he said, "we just have to ensure that we can get the collectors – new and old – to keep the faith." He added that he felt it was a family firm, not only in terms of his personal connection, but also through that of the skilled pottery workers who were part of the company. The company's local roots are also an integral part of its heritage, he said. "It's made in Stoke-on-Trent, it's got the backstamp to show that, all the staff are local, it stays local and for the city it's fantastic news for it to be continuing." He said his plan was to resume production, ensuring the brand and its products continued to be made along with the potential for new designs and new products. "It's all handmade, it's an iconic brand that over time has reached every corner of the world," he said. "I think to have such a product, to carry on its existence, is tremendous for everybody." Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Pottery firm goes bust after more than 100 years Minister pledges support to pottery industry Pottery firm plea to help industry 'on its knees' Pottery boss 'optimistic' for industry's future Moorcroft
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Starmer's Chagos surrender ‘will cost £5bn more than feared'
Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands will cost taxpayers £5 billion more than previously feared, the Tories have claimed. The Prime Minister last month signed the agreement to cede the archipelago to Mauritius and then rent back the military base on Diego Garcia, its biggest island. It had been calculated that the lease for the airbase, to be paid over the course of almost a century, would set the UK back at least £30 billion. But ministers have now admitted that the inflation figure they are using to calculate payments for future years is higher than previously thought. Mauritius, which has a GDP roughly the size of Leicester's, is going to use the huge windfall to deliver massive income tax breaks for its people. Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said: 'Rachel Reeves has been unmasked as the 'spend today, tax tomorrow' Chancellor. 'It's a damning indictment of this government that not only are British taxpayers footing the bill for Mauritians to have their income tax cut but the costs of this terrible deal grow day by day. 'It is yet another kick in the teeth for hard-pressed British taxpayers who are already preparing for another tax raid later this year thanks to Labour's incompetence.' Downing Street has claimed Treasury calculations show the total cost of the Chagos deal will come in at £3.4 billion in real terms over 99 years. However that figure has been widely disputed, with critics saying the true tally once inflation and other payments are taken into account will top £30 billion. Those calculations were based on inflation averaging out at the Bank of England's target rate of 2 per cent across the entire century of payments. But this week Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said that for most of the period the Treasury is assuming inflation will run at 2.3 per cent. That would add £4.8 billion more than expected, according to Tory calculations, taking the final bill to the taxpayer up to just over £35 billion. Ministers have confirmed in response to written questions that the cash will come out of the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office budgets. It could therefore count towards the Government's aim of spending at least 3 per cent of GDP on defence by the middle of the next decade, as well as any Nato targets. Under the deal, the UK has given up sovereignty over the Chagos, a remote Indian Ocean archipelago, to Mauritius after 200 years of British rule. Mauritius has agreed to lease back Diego Garcia, the biggest island in the chain and home to a British-US airbase, for the next century. The agreement has been criticised over both the cost and security implications, with Mauritius growing closer to China, Iran and Russia in recent years. Ministers have justified the pact by arguing the UK could have lost a future international court case brought by Mauritius, which claimed sovereignty. They said that would have put the future of the base, which was used by jets operating during both Gulf wars and the Afghanistan war, in doubt. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
