Mariusz Błaszczak made the remark in an interview with the state-run news channel TVP Info on Thursday.
Błaszczak, who is also defence minister, said that the war in Ukraine "resembled World War II."
He stressed that Russian forces were "committing war crimes in Ukraine.”
‘Every inch of Polish territory’
“And so the first and fundamental lesson is that we must defend every inch of Polish territory and that’s what we’re going to do,” Błaszczak said.
He added that “two further divisions of the Polish Army will defend eastern Poland” amid the Russian threat, state news agency PAP reported.
HIMARS, Piorun
Błaszczak noted that Poland expects to receive its first shipment of US-made light multiple rocket launchers, M142 HIMARS, next year.
The government on Thursday ordered more domestically produced Piorun (Thunderbolt) man-portable air-defence systems for the Polish armed forces, a weapon described by Błaszczak as battle-tested in Ukraine.
Błaszczak said the Piorun system “is proving its effectiveness in Ukraine” and added that the fresh batch of "3,500 rockets and 600 launch mechanisms" would be delivered to the Polish Army starting later this year.
Polish defence spending on the rise
Błaszczak told TVP Info that Poland had spent 2.3 percent of its GDP on defence in 2021, putting it third among NATO countries, and would spend still more in 2022.
“These are huge sums, but modern weapons cost money. It’s an investment - an investment in our security,” Błaszczak said.
Friday is day 121 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, polskieradio24.pl