We welcome the fact that the Polish Army is to be more abundant. But we no longer necessarily want to credit it. There is only one ally: the USA, according to a United Surveys survey published on Thursday in the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
According to the ‘DGP’, “more than 60 per cent of respondents give a good assessment of the defence ministry’s plans to increase the number of professional and non-professional soldiers to 300,000. Among supporters of the ruling camp, these announcements are supported by as many as four out of five respondents. But also, among voters for the opposition parties, those who support the enlargement of the army are in the majority. In this case, however, supporters of the idea only slightly outnumber opponents. What may be surprising is that such a move is supported by residents of rural areas and large cities far more than those living in small and medium-sized (up to 250,000 residents) towns.”
“While the majority of us want a more abundant army, significant differences can already be seen in the assessment of how this decision should be financed. Again, four out of five Law and Justice supporters believe that it should be done, even if it means having to cut spending for other purposes or take on new debt. In contrast, almost three in five opposition supporters are against it. Criticism of the idea increases with higher education. Nearly 60 per cent who have completed primary and lower secondary school agree with taking on debt and cutting another spending, compared to only 41 per cent of those with a university education, and more than half are against it. Rural residents are the most opposed to taking on debt for defence. Only 5 per cent of them are “decidedly in favour” of this issue, while in cities over 250,000 residents this attitude is shown by more than 30 per cent of respondents,” the daily reports.
The poll was conducted on 21, 22 and 23 October 2022 on a nationwide sample of 1,000 adult residents of Poland using computer-assisted telephone questionnaire interviews (CATI).