MoD Chief: Poland Braces For Defense Budget Cuts.

Polish military officials are girding for a budget crunch as they try to modernize the nation’s aging and war-ravaged equipment while moving toward an all-volunteer force, all without a hike in annual military spending.

The Polish parliament, which has set defense spending at 1.95 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, has mandated that at least 20 percent of the military’s budget must go to upgrade its equipment. But that still might be too little for modernization, said Poland’s defense minister, Bogdan Klich. [...]

It’s not just that its equipment is old. Most Polish equipment has been “worn down” during fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Julianne Smith, director of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Europe Program and its Initiative for a Renewed Transatlantic Partnership. “It’s amazing that they’ve done so much with such a small force, but that force is pretty broken down right now.”

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