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Polish PM vows to spend on shooting sports

09.01.2023 18:00
Poland’s prime minister said on Monday that his government would invest heavily in the development of shooting sports to teach the public how to defend the country against a potential attack.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visits a shooting range in Warsaw on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visits a shooting range in Warsaw on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.Photo: Polish Prime Minister's Office/KPRM

"We will continue to invest in the promotion of shooting and in the Polish arms industry because a free society must be able to defend itself and it must have weapons to defend itself with," Mateusz Morawiecki said.

He was speaking during a visit to a shooting range in Warsaw where he tested his marksmanship skills, state news agency PAP reported.

"I shot our own original Polish firearms, both vintage and modern weapons, including the Grot rifle from the Łucznik arms producer," Morawiecki said in a Facebook post.

He added that the Grot rifles were used by the Polish army and praised by Ukrainian soldiers "for their reliability."

Morawiecki reflected that "shooting is a beautiful and practical sport with a long-standing tradition" in Poland, the PAP news agency reported.

The Polish prime minister said in June last year that the government aimed to make shooting ranges available in every district across the country.

Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk in April unveiled a plan to launch a PLN 5 million (EUR 1 million) initiative to train the public in shooting sports as part of efforts to boost the country’s defences amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Monday is day 320 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP