During a ceremonial event at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, Nawrocki declared his goal of building a 300,000-strong army—one he hopes will become the most powerful military force within NATO on the continent.
“I will do everything in my power to build such a force in the coming years,” he declared.
"Allies defend only those who can defend themselves," he added. "I believe Poland can become a military power in Europe within five, 10, or 20 years."
During the ceremony in Warsaw's Piłsudski Square, Nawrocki knelt and kissed the presidential standard before it was raised on the flagpole, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He then laid a wreath at the tomb honouring Poland’s fallen soldiers.
'Follow me'
“You are the heroes of our times,” Nawrocki told Polish troops in a speech. “As president, I will be an active commander-in-chief—one who, with the mandate of the voters, intends to influence recruitment, modernisation and the future development of the Polish armed forces," he added.
Nawrocki said he would not use the presidency or his National Security Bureau (BBN) to oppose the government’s security agenda, but rather support and motivate it.
"The Presidential Palace and the BBN will not be bastions of resistance against government efforts to ensure our national security," he said. "We will be bastions of cooperation and shared solutions,” he said.
He also pledged to support military recruits and “the patriotic, outstanding Polish youth” seeking to serve in the armed forces, promising to stand behind soldiers' needs for equipment, training and modernisation.
President Karol Nawrocki to soldiers: "I will never say 'forward, soldiers'—I will always say ‘follow me,'" Photo: PAP/Albert Zawada
Addressing the troops, Nawrocki promised never to command them from the rear.
“I will never say ‘forward, soldiers’—I will always say ‘follow me,’” he said. “I have been with you, I am with you, and I will remain with you.”
Nawrocki also announced the creation of a new "department of breakthrough technologies" within the National Security Bureau, which he said will support the military and defence ministry in developing cutting-edge capabilities.
'Security requires cooperation': defence minister
Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also spoke at the ceremony, said Poland now stands “on the front line of defence of the Western world” and is navigating the most dangerous security environment since World War II.
“Today, Mr. President, you are assuming command over a great army—over the Polish armed forces, whose greatest treasure is its soldiers," he said, addressing Nawrocki.
Kosiniak-Kamysz told the ceremony that security and independence are the two core values underlying the president’s role as commander-in-chief.
He stressed that the military must remain apolitical, free from partisanship and focused on continuity and modernisation.
“Security requires cooperation between centres of power and across political differences—not hatred or shouting,” he said. He promised to work with the president on national defence, calling such an approach a “sacred obligation” under the constitution.
Kosiniak-Kamysz also said that the Polish army was undergoing its "most significant transformation in history," a project aimed at "building the third-largest military in NATO."
He cited major initiatives such as the Eastern Shield border defence system and the development of drone forces.
Nawrocki was sworn in as Poland’s new president on Wednesday, officially beginning his five-year term after taking the oath of office before parliament.
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Source: IAR, PAP, prezydent.pl