The United States has granted Poland a $2 billion loan to modernize the Polish army, the State Department reported.
The United States is proud to announce today the signing of a landmark $2 billion Foreign Military Financing (FMF) direct loan agreement to support Poland’s defense modernization, it was announced.
The announcement emphasized that Poland is an ally of the United States, and “Poland’s security is critical to the collective defense of NATO’s eastern flank.”
In addition to its key supporting role in facilitating international assistance to neighboring Ukraine, Poland has demonstrated its strong commitment to strengthening regional security through significant investment in defense spending, it was also announced.
It pointed out that Poland is planning a major expansion of the Polish Armed Forces, and has abandoned its existing Russian-origin military equipment in favor of an “ambitious multi-billion dollar defense modernization program.”
The U.S. government has provided up to $60 million in FMF loan funding to, as reported, accelerate Poland’s defense modernization by supporting urgent procurement of defense articles and services from the United States.
FMF direct loans are a security cooperation tool reserved for key partners in security cooperation.
The Homeland Defense Act passed last year provides for increased defense spending.
In May this year, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that the Polish government was ready to allocate up to 4% of GDP to armaments. This year, total spending on the army from the budget and the Armed Forces Support Fund at the BGK is expected to reach 4.2% of GDP. The total is expected to be around PLN 130-140 billion in 2023, including PLN 98 billion in the budget alone.
Next year’s draft budget, on the other hand, is assumed to be about PLN 118 billion in the budget alone, and including the Armed Forces Support Fund budget – more than PLN 159 billion.
Source: ISBnews
