Name: Polands civilian defense program set to begin
Uploaded: 2025-11-22T03:29:10.468Z
Duration: 2 min 30 s
Description: Poland is stepping up efforts to prepare its population for a potential Russian threat. The government’s goal is to train civilians in weekend military exercises.

Poland is stepping up efforts to prepare its population for a potential Russian threat. The government’s goal is to train civilians in weekend military exercises.

Warsaw

The Polish government has announced a new voluntary military training program for civilians, motivated by recent security incidents and the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine. The program will include first aid and survival exercises, with the goal of training 400,000 people by 2027 to improve the country's defense readiness.

Poland has recently experienced airspace violations by Russian drones and alleged sabotage activities, prompting debates about national security. With defense spending exceeding 4% of GDP and a growing armed forces, Poland aims to further strengthen its preparedness through this civilian initiative.

Poland's civilian defense program set to begin

Christmas is already making its presence felt here in Poland's capital Warsaw. Many hope for a peaceful holiday season, but Poles are acutely aware that, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, peace can no longer be taken for granted. That's why the government has announced a new military training program for civilians. Each of us must have skills and practical knowledge of how to behave in a difficult situation. We're living in the most dangerous times since the end of World War Two, for almost four years of full-scale wars happening just beyond our borders. Poland has been at the centre of several security incidents in recent months. Particularly high-profile? The violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones in September, followed by rail sabotage allegedly carried out by members of Russian intelligence just this week. These events have sparked debates about the country's defence readiness. The voluntary military training, including first aid and survival exercises, is one response. And while Poles are split on many subjects, civilian preparedness does not seem to be one of them here in Warsaw. The military training is quite necessary given the geopolitical situation, the security situation in Poland and in Europe in general. It's a good opportunity at first, but also it's kind of scary because it's showing in what times we're living. If they will be conducted properly, that would be quite useful. For example, people could know how to get to the proper shelter. In recent years, Poland has invested heavily in its armed forces. The Polish army is now NATO's third largest with more than 200,000 soldiers. And with defence spending exceeding 4% of GDP, Poland invests more than any other NATO member relative to the size of its economy. Experts say that the new military training programme could take Poland's ambitions a step further. These trainings are useful to prepare a larger part of the population to react to imminent threats at the very beginning, and from a second hand to actually scale up the number of reservists that can be called up in case of war. By 2027, the programme aims to train 400,000 people. With that, Poland hopes that it will be on the right course of action to safeguard the peace it hopes to preserve.

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