Poland: Poland has held the Armed Forces Day parade, its biggest military parade since the Cold War, to showcase the country’s state-of-the-art weaponry as defence takes centre stage ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
The parade marked the 103rd anniversary of Poland’s victory over the Soviet Union’s Red Army in the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, during which Polish troops defeated Bolshevik forces advancing on Europe.
With the country’s election campaign in full swing, the immense display of military hardware provided a chance for the government to promote its security credentials.
“The defence of our eastern border, the border of the European Union and of NATO, is today a key element of Poland’s state interest,” Poland’s President Mr. Andrzej Duda, the chief commander of the armed forces, said in his opening speech at the event.
Crowds, waving national white and red flags, gathered to see United States-made Abrams tanks, HIMARS mobile artillery systems, and Patriot missile systems on parade through the streets of the capital.
In addition, the parade included F-16 fighter planes, South Korean FA-50 fighters, and K9 howitzers. Polish-made equipment, including Krab tracked gun howitzers and Rosomak armoured transporters, was also featured.
Some 2,000 troops from Poland and other NATO countries took part in the parade, as well as 200 military vehicles and other equipment and almost 100 aircraft.
“August 15 is not only an opportunity to pay homage to the heroes of the victorious Battle of Warsaw and to thank contemporary soldiers for defending our homeland. It is also a perfect day to show our strength, to show that we have built powerful armed forces that will effectively defend our borders without hesitation,” Defence Minister Mr. Mariusz Blaszczak told troops and onlookers who had gathered near the Vistula River.
“Poland’s army has more than 175,000 troops, an increase from approximately 100,000 eight years ago,” Mr. Duda noted.
“The goal of this huge modernization is to equip Poland’s armed forces and create such a defence system that no one ever dares attack us and that Polish soldiers will never need to fight,” the President added, while voicing his respect for the military.
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