Poland displays its military might in a huge show as elections approach

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s biggest military parade since the Cold War took place in Warsaw on Tuesday, with the NATO member flexing its military muscle in what the government hopes will be a message to Moscow and voters ahead of time. Elections in October.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine made strengthening the armed forces a priority for Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) nationalists, and with the election campaign in full swing, the massive supply of military equipment offered an opportunity to improve their security credentials.

The Armed Forces Day parade, held on the 103rd anniversary of Poland’s victory over the Soviet Union in the Battle of Warsaw, saw 2,000 soldiers from Poland and other NATO countries march through the capital accompanied by 200 pieces of military equipment and 92 aircraft.

“August 15 is not only an opportunity to honor the heroes of the victorious Battle of Warsaw and to thank modern soldiers for their defense of our Motherland,” Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told soldiers and onlookers gathered near the Vistula River.

“It is also an ideal day to show our strength and show that we have built strong armed forces that will effectively defend our borders without hesitation.”

The Law and Justice party, which has been in power since 2015, has pledged to double the size of the military and spend about 4% of GDP on defense this year.

President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the Law and Justice Party, compared what he said was the failure to prioritize defense under the previous government with investments made in recent years.

“The past eight years have been a period of rebuilding the Polish army,” he said. Earlier we had the opposite situation, a decrease in the size of the Polish armed forces.

Handyman Dariusz Goronski, 56, traveled from the western town of Dybno to see the parade.

“The show gives a very good impression that we have something to defend ourselves with,” he said. “I personally feel safe.”

However, opposition MPs accuse the government of exploiting the army for its own political gain.

“I wish you (soldiers)… never have to submit a background of political hate,” Marcin Kerwinski, a lawmaker from the liberal opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Duda, Plashczak and other policymakers, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, watched as soldiers passed by as helicopters including Black Hawks and aircraft including F-16s and F-50s circled overhead.

Other equipment on display included M1A1 Abrams tanks purchased from the United States, South Korean K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, HIMARS missile launchers, Patriot air defense systems and Polish-made Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles.

Additional reporting by Casper Pimple, Justina Pawlak and Alan Sharlich, Cuba Steziki, Editing by Angus McSwan and Alexandra Hudson

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