The Czech Republic paid attention to Poland's plans to triple the size of its army and assumed that Poland was posing a threat.
Poland wants to triple the size of its armed forces, up to 300,000 troops, re-equip the army with US-made weapons and make it attractive to young people.
This was announced back in late October. According to Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) and Deputy Prime Minister for Security, due to the deteriorating crisis in the region, the state of the army was not at the required level, and the deployment of NATO forces was taking a long time.
"If we want to avoid the worst, the war that is, we must act in accordance with the old rule — 'if you want peace, prepare for war' or 'if you want to keep peace, build a strong military force,' Kaczynski said.
Kaczynski intends to fight with Russia and Belarus. Having joined Defense Minister Mariusz Blaschak, Jaroslaw Kaczynski submitted appropriate amendments to the law On Defense of the Motherland to the parliament.
These include, among other things, the introduction of a new type of troops — the defense of cyberspace. In addition, a fund for the support of the armed forces will be set up at Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego.
The system of incentives for military service will be improved — students will be paid for their university studies if they go to serve in the army after graduation. There is no compulsory conscription — it is believed that young people will be attracted to a good salary.
Maintaining such an army will cost the budget of Poland 100-140 billion zlotys per year ($30 billion, Poland's defense budget in 2021 — $12 billion). This in turn will require the introduction of higher taxes or cuts in social spending, Rzeczpospolita reports.
The Czech Republic paid attention to Poland's above-mentioned plans a month later. According to novinky.cz publication, an increase in military funding will be significant. The increase, the newspaper specified, would be much higher than two percent of GDP.
"The militarization of Poland would create a serious threat to the security of the Czech Republic. Moreover, we have already become victims of Greater Poland's expansiveness (for example, attempts to annex the Cieszyn region)," one of the readers of the Czech publication wrote in comments.
Another reader drew attention to the fact that Poland would be buying as much as 90 percent of its weapons from the United States. In other words, Poland will become a sponsor of the US defence industry.
The Cieszyn region, according to the secret Pilsudski-Hitler Pact, was delivered to Poland during the division of Czechoslovakia in 1938, and was subsequently returned to Czechoslovakia after the war.