Polish government denies report of 25% defence spending cut and says “Russia may be behind it”
Poland’s defence ministry had threatened legal action against an opposition-aligned media outlet that reported alleged plans to cut the defence budget by a quarter. The ministry says the story is false and suggests that Russia could be behind it. But opposition MPs claim to have confirmed it is genuine.
On Thursday morning, TV Republika, a conservative broadcaster strongly critical of the government, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that there were plans to reduce defence spending by around 25% for the period 2025 to 2028.
Journalist Piotr Nisztor published extracts from what he said was a letter sent by the general staff of the Polish armed forces to the defence ministry expressing opposition to the proposal.
Neither he nor TV Republika indicated the source of the document and the extracts they published do not contain any information that could confirm its authenticity, such as a date or signature, notes broadcaster Polsat News.
Rząd Donalda Tuska planuje zmniejszenie w latach 2025-2028 wydatków na armię o ponad 57 mld zł, czyli o 25 proc! @SztabGenWP w piśmie do @MON_GOV_PL alarmuje, że oznacza to wstrzymanie kluczowych programów rozwoju naszego wojska 👇@RepublikaTV @michalrachon #Jedziemy #ScisleJawne pic.twitter.com/xlrb7Y1tCa
— Piotr Nisztor 🇵🇱 (@PNisztor) July 4, 2024
When contacted by TV Republika about the claim, defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied it. He said that not only were no spending cuts planned, but that in fact the defence budget may be increased.
Poland is this year spending the equivalent of over 4.1% of GDP on defence, which is the highest level among all NATO countries. It is also an increase on the 3.9% of GDP spent last year by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which is now in opposition.
In a further statement issued later in the morning, the defence ministry “firmly denied” TV Republika’s “completely baseless” claims. It accused the outlet of “irresponsibly and harmfully” spreading “unverified and false information” that could “affect the sense of public security and create unnecessary chaos”.
“The defence ministry does not plan any budget cuts amounting to 57 billion zloty [as claimed by TV Republika]. In fact, we plan to increase our military budget by 10% next year as part of a long-term national security strategy to strengthen our armed forces in the face of current geopolitical threats.”
Oświadczenie MON w sprawie fałszywych informacji o planowanych cięciach wydatków na obronność
Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej stanowczo zaprzecza informacjom podanym przez TV Republika, jakoby MON planowało cięcia wydatków na obronność w wysokości 57 miliardów PLN w latach… pic.twitter.com/wgotUusI4H
— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) July 4, 2024
The ministry said that it “demands immediate correction of false information by TV Republika” and that “if no correction is made, we will consider taking appropriate legal steps to protect the good name of the defence ministry and prevent further spread of disinformation”.
“Moreover, questions arise about possible foreign inspirations, including Russian, that may be behind these actions,” it added. “We want to know on whose behalf the authors of these false reports acted and what their motivations were.”
Meanwhile, finance minister Andrzej Domański tweeted that “defence spending is our priority” and that “next year it will increase not only nominally, but also in relation to GDP”.
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Despite those denials, PiS politicians expressed anger at the reported cuts. Mateusz Morawiecki, who served as prime minister from 2017 until the end of last year, said that “if the reports are confirmed, it will mean a huge blow to Poland’s security”.
“Poles expect explanations. Immediately,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, former PiS defence minister Mariusz Błasczak called the alleged plans “sabotage by the Tusk government”, referring to Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
MIAŁ BYĆ PLUS – A ZNÓW JEST MINUS!
TYM RAZEM MINUS 25% NA POLSKĄ ARMIĘ – czyli fundament bezpieczeństwa Polski.
🆘🛡🇵🇱🆘
Nie ma silnego państwa bez mocnej armii. Dzięki naprawie finansów publicznych mieliśmy środki na przeprowadzenie modernizacji Sił Zbrojnych RP. Podjęliśmy… pic.twitter.com/60JO09Nuwu
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) July 4, 2024
In response, deputy defence minister Cezary Tomczyk called Błaszczak “a hypocrite, a liar and an irresponsible person”. He said PiS was acting “no differently from the Russian trolls who attack the Polish army and the defence ministry every day”.
Błaszczak, in turn, replied that PiS MPs “have proven that the document on budget cuts is true” and said that he was filing a motion to prosecutors accusing Tomczyk of defamation.
Błaszczak’s remarks referred to claims by three PiS MPs, Andrzej Śliwka, Paweł Jabłoński and Michał Moskal, who today visited the defence ministry and requested to see the documents in question.
They claimed that they received confirmation from the ministry’s director general that the letter from the general staff protesting the proposed cuts was genuine. However, Śliwka also said that they had been denied access to the documents because they were classified.
🔥 Strach ogarnął resort obrony❗️
Dyrektor generalny MON zamiast przynieść dokumenty, po godzinie powiedział, że nie potrafi skompletować dokumentów, które zostały wytworzone w ministerstwie.
Dziwnym trafem, po godzinie okazało się również, że pisma mają charakter niejawny,… pic.twitter.com/0g2BJhvRvU
— Andrzej Śliwka 🇵🇱 (@SliwkaAndrzej) July 4, 2024
Main image credit: MON (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
