An extraordinary summit of the European Union was held in Brussels on Thursday, attended by the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski, during which EU Heads of State and Government gave the green light to the alignment plan presented by the Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Therefore, president Andrzej Duda decided to prepare and submit to the talker of the Sejm an amendment to the Constitution, which includes an yearly work to issue an amount of at least 4% for the Polish National taxation Product (GDP).
President Duda stressed that the most crucial thing is that Poland's safety is constantly strengthened, and as we have a consensus on the political stage, he believes that this must besides be strengthened from the legal side. Therefore, he decided to prepare and submit an amendment to the Constitution, which includes 4% of expenditure on Polish GDP as an work of at least 4% per year on defence to be issued in Poland.
As president Duda stressed, a minimum of 4% of GDP on defence must be spent in order to guarantee that if there were any democratic changes in Poland that could always happen in democracy, and a cabinet came, for example, to say that why spend so much on defence, it would require a serious political consensus again. As you know, 2/3 is needed in the Sejm to amend the Constitution, which is indeed a serious political consensus.
Security requires this serious political consensus, it must be guaranteed, and president Duda has so decided that specified an amendment to the Constitution will be justified. I hope that it will be accepted by the Sejm on average dates, without delay, due to the fact that this is indeed an crucial and serious substance for us today," the president pointed out.
It is worth noting that in 2022, defence spending in Poland amounted to about 2.4% of GDP, which is below the NATO recommended level of 2% of GDP. However, due to the war in Ukraine, Poland undertook to increase its defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2025.
Therefore, president Duda stressed that the amendment to the Constitution is essential to guarantee that Poland will be able to guarantee its safety and defence in the future. As he stressed, the determination of the leaders of the states and the European institutions is clear that Europe's task is to increase its defence capacity as shortly as possible.
According to the National Bank of Poland data, in 2022 Poland's GDP amounted to about PLN 2.3 trillion, which means that 4% of GDP is about PLN 92 billion. This is an amount that may be allocated to defence spending, which is well above current spending on this purpose.
It is worth noting that the amendment to the Constitution requires 2/3 votes in the Sejm, which means that 276 votes are needed. This is simply a challenge, but as president Duda stressed, Poland's safety is adequate reason to accept this amendment.
Therefore, president Duda called on all Members to support this amendment, due to the fact that Poland's safety is the most important. As he stressed, the determination of the leaders of the states and European institutions is clear that it is Europe's task to increase its defence capabilities as shortly as possible, which is essential to guarantee safety and defence in the future.
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Security of Poland: president Duda on the work to spend 4% of GDP on defence
