DRAWSKO POMORSKIE TRAINING AREA, Poland–A Polish army honor guard marches during a parade at the opening ceremony for Exercise Steadfast Jazz here Nov. 3. (NATO photo by British army Sgt. Ian Houlding)
After suffering attacks from both Russia and Germany in World War II, and enduring years of forced communism as a member of the Warsaw Pact, Poland is determined not to fall victim again. Today the country is spending more of its GDP than any other NATO country on building up its military. Rob Schmitz and Greg Dixon report in NPR:
This year, the country [Poland] will spend nearly 5% of its gross domestic product on defense — more than any other NATO member, including the United States. As President Trump tries to end the war in Ukraine, Poland is doing all it can to prevent another Russian invasion. As a neighbor of Ukraine and host to more than 2 million of its war refugees, Poland has seen, heard and felt what Russia is capable of, and it is now preparing for the worst.
Poland also shares a 500-mile border with Russia and Kremlin ally Belarus, and it is not only building up defenses there. This year, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on all Polish men to begin military training, announcing to parliament in March that by the end of this year, the aim is for every adult male in the country to be trained in the event of war.
Hundreds of miles north of the capital, along Poland’s border with Russia, bulldozers clear farmland for a land mine field while crews place neat rows of concrete anti-tank structures called hedgehogs that look like massive gray Lego pieces.
Read more here.
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