Poland’s Defence Ministry threatened legal action against an opposition-aligned media outlet that reported alleged plans to cut the defence budget by a quarter. The ministry says the story is false and suggests that Russia could be behind it. But opposition MPs claim to have confirmed it is genuine.
On July 4 morning, TV Republika, a conservative broadcaster strongly critical of the government, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that there were plans to reduce defence spending by around 25% for the period 2025 to 2028.
Journalist Piotr Nisztor published extracts from what he said was a letter sent by the general staff of the Polish armed forces to the Defence Ministry expressing opposition to the proposal.
Neither he nor TV Republika indicated the source of the document and the extracts they published did not contain any information that could confirm its authenticity, such as a date or signature.
When contacted by TV Republika about the claim, defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz denied it. He said that not only were no spending cuts planned, but that in fact the defence budget might be increased.
Poland is this year spending the equivalent of over 4.1% of GDP on defence, which is the highest level among all NATO countries. It is also an increase on the 3.9% of GDP spent last year by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which is now in opposition.
In a further statement issued later in the morning, the Defence Ministry “firmly denied” TV Republika’s “completely baseless” claims. It accused the outlet of “irresponsibly and harmfully” spreading “unverified and false information” that could “affect the sense of public security and create unnecessary chaos”.
“The Defence Ministry does not plan any budget cuts amounting to 57 billion zloty (as claimed by TV Republika). In fact, we plan to increase our military budget by 10% next year as part of a long-term national security strategy to strengthen our armed forces in the face of current geopolitical threats,” it said.
The ministry said that it “demands immediate correction of false information by TV Republika” and that “if no correction is made, we will consider taking appropriate legal steps to protect the good name of the defence ministry and prevent further spread of disinformation”.
“Moreover, questions arise about possible foreign inspirations, including Russian, that may be behind these actions,” it added. “We want to know on whose behalf the authors of these false reports acted and what their motivations were.”
Meanwhile, finance minister Andrzej Domanski tweeted that “defence spending is our priority” and that “next year it will increase not only nominally, but also in relation to GDP”. (Notes from Poland)