Announcing the step, Adam Szłapka called the strategy a directional document that will guide all state institutions in the years ahead.
At its meeting on Friday, the government also authorized Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz to apply for funding from the European Union’s SAFE program, a defense investment initiative.
Writing on platform X after the meeting, Kosiniak-Kamysz outlined the strategy’s key priorities. These include territorial integrity, citizen safety, sustainable development, and aligning NATO and European Union policies with Poland’s security interests.
He also emphasized the importance of maintaining Poland’s strategic partnership with the United States.
Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said that the previous security strategy, adopted in 2020, could not have accounted for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the dramatic changes it brought to the security landscape.
The earlier document also lacked provisions for key initiatives such as the Eastern Shield defense program and responses to hybrid warfare, Tomczyk said. These are now part of the updated strategy.
The Prime Minister’s Office said that the new document identifies core national interests in security, including the preservation of Poland’s independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty, as well as citizen safety and the protection of democratic institutions, national identity, and heritage.
It also stresses the importance of an international order based on cooperation and the rule of law, and the need for favorable conditions for sustainable social, economic, and environmental development.
One of the strategic goals is to increase Poland’s influence on the global security system by helping shape NATO and EU policy in line with national interests, strengthening regional and bilateral cooperation, and maintaining close ties with the United States.
The document also calls for support for Ukraine as an independent, democratic and pro-Western country capable of self-defense, and for resisting Russian efforts to impose a sphere-of-influence model of security.
Another key objective is to develop a system of “universal defense” that prepares the state to counter both external and internal threats. This includes modernizing Poland’s armed forces, enhancing deterrence and defense capabilities and integrating the country’s security command structure.
The strategy also calls for improved civil defense, resilience of critical infrastructure and services, and enhanced protection in cyberspace. It places emphasis on civic education and national identity as essential components of the public’s determination to defend the state.
The strategy also outlines plans to strengthen Poland’s economic, technological, demographic and environmental resilience.
It calls for expanding the domestic defense industry’s capacity to meet the army’s needs and reduce dependency on foreign supply chains.
Other goals include boosting economic competitiveness through science and R&D, particularly in dual-use technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, enhancing energy security, and supporting demographic renewal and family development.
Food security, healthcare preparedness and ecological safety are also identified as priorities.
During work on the new strategy in July last year, President Andrzej Duda issued recommendations via his National Security Bureau.
These included calls for integrating the national security command system, boosting the country's resilience, particularly in civil protection, developing a nationwide defense framework involving all sectors of society, and strengthening the armed forces. He also emphasized energy and environmental security, and the need to improve Poland’s demographic outlook and economic competitiveness.
Poland seeks EU defense funding
In a separate decision on Friday, the government adopted a resolution authorizing the defense minister to declare Poland’s interest in obtaining funding from the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program.
Part of a wider EU plan to bolster European defense capabilities by 2030, the SAFE initiative makes EUR 150 billion in loans available to participating countries.
Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote that the financial support would help accelerate investment in Poland’s defense industry.
Referring to both the new strategy and the SAFE application, he said the decisions represent “real progress in building our security and resilience.”
Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday outlined priorities for his newly reshuffled government, reaffirming national security as the top priority.
Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
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Source: IAR, PAP