MoD's strategic review not binding for president - Security Bureau
Deputy head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), Dariusz Gwizdala, said that the defence ministry's Startegic Defence Review was not binding for President Andrzej Duda, but represented a starting point for discussions on developing Poland's armed forces.
When asked by the Defence24.pl portal what the BBN's position was on the Ministry of Defence's Strategic Defence Review, Gwizdala said that from the president's point of view, the fundamental documents that shape the functioning of the country's armed forces were: the National Security Strategy, the Political-Strategic Defence Directive, and the Main Development Directions of the Armed Forces.
"The Strategic Defence Review is obviously an interesting undertaking", the BBN deputy chief told the portal. "However, its significance is internal (to the defence ministry - PAP).
"We are treating it as an introduction to discussions on the develpopment of Poland's armed forces", Gwizdala said, adding that Duda had learned of the results of the review during a BBN meeting but that its findings were not binding on him.
The BBN official stressed that some elements of the review were interesting as it presented a real view of the armed forces.
"However, we have our doubts about some of the recommendations", he pointed out, specifying that they concerned the feasibility of the plans to finance the modernisation of the armed forces, primarily the purchase of arms and equipment.
"It seems to us that the forecast, made public by deputy defence minister Tomasz Szatkowski, of PLN 550 billion (EUR 129 billion) for technical modernisation, use of equipment, reserves and personnel expenses over the next 15 years is too optimistic", Gwizdala told Defence24.pl.
He added that it was not right that the role and tasks of the navy had been marginalised in the review document. "Poland's attributes as a naval country have not been exploited, especially in the context of the growing NATO engagement on the eastern flank," he said.
Source: PAP