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30 I Central Europe bne April 2025
Poland’s Tusk outlines push for nuclear weapons, grow army to 500,000 / bne IntelliNews
Poland’s Tusk outlines push for nuclear weapons, plans to expand army to 500,000
bne IntelliNews
Poland will strive to enlarge
its armed forces to 500,000 servicemen and work to obtain nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in an address to the Polish parliament on March 7.
Tusk delivered his speech in the wake of a flurry of activity in Europe following US President Donald Trump’s abrupt ending of military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine. The Trump administration’s subsequent hints of a “reset” in Washington’s relations with Russia further fuelled worries that the US is readying to leave Europe to take care of its own defence against
a newly emboldened Russia.
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“We must reach for the most modern solutions related to nuclear weapons and the most modern conventional weapons," Tusk told Parliament.
It was not clear if Tusk meant Poland should develop its own nuclear deterrence or – as he said moments earlier – Poland was about to “talk seriously to the French about [their] idea of nuclear umbrella.”
“It is time to look at the latest battlefield technologies more boldly. Conventional means are no longer enough,” Tusk added.
Tusk dropped the verbal A-bomb at the very end of his speech, which he mostly devoted to interpreting Trump’s line on Russia-Ukraine war.
“We are witnessing a major shift in US policy on the war in Ukraine,” Tusk said,
“We must reach for the most modern solutions related to nuclear weapons and the most modern conventional weapons”