25 years of Poland in NATO

On March 12, 1999, in the city of Independence in the United States of America, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Bronislaw Geremek handed over to US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright the document of ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty accepted by Poland. This formal act was the culmination not only of years of diplomatic efforts on the part of the Polish side, but also of a long and tedious process of Polish Armed Forces transformation. Poland's admission - along with the Czech Republic and Hungary - to NATO 25 years ago opened a new chapter in the history of Polish security and brought our country into the largest and the oldest defense alliance in the history of the modern world. A free and democratic Poland has clearly defined the vision of its security and the direction in which it wants to develop it forward. Being a member of NATO is one of the main pillars of Polish defense policy. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty is a guarantee of our security, as well as the foundation of the Alliance's deterrent power.

Since the beginning of its presence in NATO, the Polish Armed Forces have been very active, not only in the creation of the security structure identified with the Alliance, but also in the numerous military missions carried out by NATO.

INFALLIBLE IN MISSIONS

As early as 1996, not yet a formal member of the Alliance, we delegated forces to the UN-mandated, NATO-led IFOR operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We continue our involvement in the Balkans to this day by participating in the KFOR operation in Kosovo since 1999.

Ever since joining NATO, Poland has been faithfully executing the Allied obligations that membership in the Alliance imposes on its constituent countries. Polish soldiers have participated - and continue to participate - in missions and operations conducted under the auspices of NATO. During the 25 years of our membership, nearly 75,000 soldiers and military personnel have served in these missions. Representatives of the Polish Armed Forces, with the sign of the red-and-white flag on their shoulders were present in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and Greece, Iraq, and Kosovo, as well as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. They have not been missed in operations carried out in Pakistan, Iceland and Romania; they have served on a number of naval operations: Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

While some of these missions have already been completed, some are still continuing. Polish contingents are permanently stationed in Latvia, Romania, Turkey, Kosovo and Iraq, and Polish Air Force aircraft regularly participate in Air Policing missions, providing airspace protection over the Baltic States.

LEADER IN FINANCING

Poland's membership in NATO has consolidated its position in the international arena and has contributed significantly to strengthening the security of not only our country, but also the entire region. Over the years, Poland has unmistakably demonstrated that it is a reliable and responsible ally that also views the global security system from the perspective of its own responsibility for strengthening it. This is evidenced by the investments our country is allocating in defense, doubling from NATO requirement of 2% of GDP to 4.2% of GDP, planned at around PLN 158 billion, of which more than 50% are allotted for the modernization of the Armed Forces, which also means that we are number 1 in the Alliance in this regard. 

Steady funding, consistently carried out technical modernization and the development of national defense capabilities have made Poland one of the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance. This would not have been possible without the tremendous changes that have taken place in Poland and transformed the consciousness of Poles. The Polish Armed Forces have undergone a transformation, thanks to which the perception of the military has changed, while it has been professionalized and adapted to NATO standards.

SUPPORT FOR NATO

The scale of approval for the changes described above is evidenced, among other things, by the new results of public opinion polls. They indicate that more than 70% of Poles rate the Polish Armed Forces' performance well. Opinion polls in 31 NATO + Sweden countries show that more than 90% of Poles would vote to remain in the Alliance; 90% of Poles consider NATO to be an important or very important element of (Poland's) national security and more than 80% of Poles believe that NATO membership reduces the likelihood of another country attacking our homeland.

Over the past 25 years, the Polish Armed Forces have been building and strengthening their defense capabilities, so that today they far outperform the defense capabilities with which we began our efforts to join the Alliance. Old post-Soviet equipment has been replaced by modern armaments, tailored to the capabilities and needs of a large European country. Our own capabilities and our firmly established NATO membership are the pillars of Poland's defense system. It is worth noting that this system is being strengthened all the time - for instance, but not only, because of Russian aggression against Ukraine and the full-scale war taking place right on our eastern border.

NATO SUMMIT

The significant role of Poland in the Allied security system and its strong position among the signatory states of the North Atlantic Treaty was evidenced, among other things, by the fact that the largest NATO summit ever held was hosted in Warsaw in July 2016. At the summit, key decisions were made to strengthen NATO's eastern flank for the security of Poland and the region, including the establishment of enhanced Forward Presence.

Subsequent years saw further important NATO decisions strengthening the security of Poland and the entire region. At the 2018 NATO Summit in Brussels, two new commands were established: in Norfolk (USA) - responsible for the defense of maritime lines of communication between North America and Europe, and in Ulm (Germany) - responsible for the support and logistics of the force transition process. A Cyberspace Operations Center (Belgium) has also been established. In 2020, the Allies approved the Concept for Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA), which sets a unified, coherent framework for all Allies to combat threats in solidarity by strengthening the deterrence and defense of NATO members.

In 2022, it was decided to deploy an additional four multinational battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. It was also decided to strengthen cyber defense and increase the scale of allied exercises.

Of particular importance for Poland was the next NATO summit in Madrid in 2022. At which, the latest NATO Strategic Concept was adopted, directly indicating that Russia is the main threat to the Alliance's stability. Among other things, the concept includes treating energy carriers and migration processes as tools for leverage. It was then, that it was decided that multinational battalion battle groups would be given the opportunity to increase their size to brigade level, based on, among other things, the establishment of new equipment and ammunition depots. During the summit, the NATO Secretary General announced the creation of the New NATO Force Model, which will replace the NRF (NATO Response Force ). According to it, the pool of Allied forces of the highest readiness will increase from 40,000 to 300,000 troops.

NEW PLANS

Last year's (2023) NATO summit in Vilnius saw new defense plans, tailored to changes in the security environment, that ensure blocking access and defending all of the Alliance's territory. These NATO plans, the most detailed since the end of the Cold War, form the basis for effective defense against large-scale Russian aggression. It was also decided in Vilnius that all Allies should reach a level of 2% of GDP allocated to defense by 2024.

WE PROVIDE SECURITY

The global security system, created by all NATO members, including Poland, is based on structural solutions and the idea of deterrence and collective defense. Supporting this idea is the maxim "one for all, all for one," which has been in effect since the Alliance's inception. Poland, being a member of NATO, is not only a beneficiary of this system, but also carries out the obligations stemming from it. All the time we are making a tangible contribution to NATO initiatives, such as the Allied presence on the eastern and southern flanks.

We actively participate in key allied military exercises, including Defender Europe '20 and '21, Cold Response '22, also the ones conducted on our territory, such as exercises Anaconda, Dragon, Saber Strike, BALTOPS or Noble Jump and Brilliant Jump. At the same time, we organize national exercises of our own, such as this year's Dragon '24, which will be one of the most important parts of NATO's Steadfast Defender exercises. Poland, as one of the host countries, has announced the presence of 20,000 troops and more than 3,500 units of equipment from 10 NATO countries on domestic training grounds.

STRUCTURES IN POLAND

Since Poland joined NATO, a number of Allied or in various ways Alliance-related military structures have been activated on our territory. In addition, in 2023 Poland invested PLN 190 million (€42 million) in the newly established NATO Innovation Fund, which represents almost 5% of the total contribution of the participating Allied countries. The main objective of this investment fund is to develop solutions that offer modern and groundbreaking dual-use technologies, with particular potential for use in the defense field.

The following Allied or Alliance-related military structures operate in Poland:

- Allied:

• Battle Group within NATO's Forward Land Forces on the Eastern Flank (FLF BG) in Bemowo Piskie ( since 2017),
• NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) in Bydgoszcz, (2015).
• NATO Joint Forces Training Center (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz, (2004).
• NATO 3rd Signal Battalion in Bydgoszcz, (2010).
• NATO Military Police Center of Excellence in Bydgoszcz, (2013).
• NATO Counterintelligence Center of Excellence (CI COE) in Krakow, Poland; (2017).

- American:

• U.S. Land Forces V Corps Forward Command in Poznan,
• U.S. Army Garrison Poland (USAG-P.).
• Combat Sustainment and Logistic Support Component of the U.S. Army in Powidz,
• Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB) in Powidz,
• Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) of the US (Headquarters in Żagań, components in Skwierzyna, Świętoszów, Bolesławiec, Drawsko Pomorskie, Toruń)
• Missile Defense Base in Redzikowo,
• Divisional Command, Boleslawiec
• Equipment Storage and Repair Complex, Powidz,
• units deployed after the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine (Patriot, airborne - Rzeszow Jasionka + additional Armored Brigade Combat Group ( ABCT)

- other multinational:

• Command of the Multinational Corps North East in Szczecin, (1999).
• Command of the Multinational Division North East in Elblag, (2017)
• Command of the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Great Hetman Konstantin Ostrogski Brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG) in Lublin.

Today, Poland is a very experienced member of NATO, which, by its path to the Alliance and 25 years of functioning in its structures, provides advice and assistance to other countries just aspiring to the membership. Of particular importance to us in this regard is supporting Ukraine's aspirations. At NATO, we are working to ensure that it has a realistic prospect of membership, as well as the greatest possible practical support in resisting Russian aggression. We actively support NATO's cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, seeing this as the Alliance's contribution to stabilizing the Western Balkans and Caucasus region. Of equal importance to Poland is NATO's political and functional cooperation with Moldova. We were very happy to welcome Finland to the Alliance, which will be joined by Sweden in the near future. Supporting the "open door" policy, Poland continues its efforts to maintain Allied unity, including the transatlantic one. We emphasize the need for and work to further strengthen NATO's eastern flank, but at the same time recognize the challenges coming from other geographic directions.

All this is part of NATO's 360-degree policy. This is a policy of new security realities, defined not only by geopolitical factors, but also by technological, social and environmental trends.

 NATO INVESTMENTS IN POLAND

The transformation of the Polish Armed Forces and Polish defense means not only people, experience and equipment, but also significant investments in infrastructure. They take place within the framework of the NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP), with planning and implementation handled by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Investment Facility - an institution established in 2002 and subordinate to the Minister of Defense. These projects have been implemented since the beginning of our presence in the Alliance - 150 have been commissioned to date, and another 74 are at various stages of completion. The total value of all investments, completed and planned, is PLN 7.8 billion. They have been placed in almost all regions, and although they are co-financed by NATO, they are owned by Poland.

Under the NSIP, we are building airport, radar, training, naval, storage and fuel infrastructure, as well as communications and command facilities - everything that is useful to the Polish Armed Forces and Allied troops both in peacetime and in a time of possible conflict.

Among the packets of projects already completed can be listed:

• Construction of infrastructure for the deployment of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) in Bydgoszcz
• Construction of operational capabilities of the command system for defense and airspace control
• Ensuring a system of initial communications and information support for Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary

Selected projects in progress:

• Long-range radiolocation posts of the BACKBONE type (air defense) - in Suwalki (Podlaskie voivodeship), Chruściel (Warmian-Masurian voivodeship) and Zamość (Lublin voivodeship)
• Maritime communication and guidance system in Łężyca and Rumia (Pomeranian voivodeship)
• Preparing infrastructure for the 18th Mechanized Division in Siedlce (Mazowieckie voivodeship)

It is worth mentioning that Poland is in the leadership in terms of the amount of annual defense investments of the Alliance. In 2023, we ranked second among all NATO members in this respect.

Poland's defense spending as a percentage of GDP is the highest in NATO, and is the only one that exceeds 4% of which we spend more than 50% on modernizing the Armed Forces, a fact that also puts us in first place in the Alliance.