BBN chief Jacek Siewiera: 300,000-strong Polish army is “the right direction”, but “not easy to achieve”

The head of the National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, was asked on RMF FM whether an army of 300,000 soldiers is a realistic goal that Poland should strive to achieve.

– I believe that this is the right direction, not easy to achieve in the coming years. However, if we take into account the active reserve, the personnel reserves that the army can have from among citizens who have completed professional military service or other forms of active military service, then I believe that this is the goal we should strive for – replied Siewiera.

The head of the National Security Bureau also assessed that Poland has the demographic capacity to have a 300,000-strong army. – We are a medium-sized country in Central Europe with a population of 38 million, including those residing on our territory – he noted. – Such a demographic capacity undoubtedly exists, but the question remains as to what forms of service best achieve this goal – he noted.

He added that planning the state's defence involves two aspects: firstly, maintaining the armed forces and their combat readiness and ability to perform combat tasks, and secondly, the functioning of the state in the organisational dimension, including the economic and social dimension.

Referring to the financial capabilities of Poland, which would have to maintain a 300,000-strong army, Siewiera noted that this is related to the selection of “appropriate tools for shaping, first and foremost, the reserve”. He noted that for mobilization capabilities “the reserve and active reserve are key aspects”. – Then, an educated soldier, prepared for service, also equipped, costs the least. The key is to offer him benefits and certain forms of satisfaction from serving the state, other than financial ones. This is possible – Siewiera assessed.

When asked about the issue of greater expenditure on pensionswhich are associated with such a large army, the head of the National Security Bureau stressed that Poland should be able to finance them.

– What I am talking about is the situation of creating reserves, i.e. such human resources of the armed forces in which a citizen, undergoing military training, engaging in tasks carried out by the armed forces in a voluntary, fully motivated, fully committed manner, derives other forms of satisfaction from the implementation of these tasks and returns to the labor market as a citizen participating in the implementation of normal, commercial and consumer activities on the labor market – he added.

The head of the National Security Bureau also referred to the issue of the size of the Polish army in mid-July. Referring to data collected by NATO, Siewiera emphasized that Poland has the third largest army in NATO. According to the Alliance's estimates, the Polish Army with over 216 thousand soldiers is the third largest army in NATO – after USA (1.3 million soldiers) and Turkey (481,000 troops). NATO data covered the period from 2014 to mid-2024, with data for 2023 and 2024 being estimates.

See also: How Strong Is the Polish Army? New NATO Data

When it comes to Europe, the French have forces comparable to those of Poland, with an army of 205.7 thousand soldiers according to NATO data. Germany with 185.6 thousand soldiers, Italy from 171.4 thousand and Great Britain with 138.1 thousand soldiers. Among the countries with more than 100 thousand soldiers, there is also Spain (117.4 thousand) and Greece (110.8 thousand). The combined armies of the 32 NATO allies number 3.418 million soldiers; excluding the USA, the figure is 2.118 million.