Modernisation of existing shelters and construction of fresh ones, organization of a network of warehouses with equipment and supplies in case of a crisis, establishment of the civilian Defence Corps – these are the assumptions adopted by the government's civilian Defence Protection Programme for the next 2 years. Budget? Not little than 0.3% of GDP per year.
Entry into force in 2022 crucial for the improvement of the Polish Army Laws on Defence of the Motherland created a legal gap in the country's civilian defence legislation. They have not been revised in parallel. Our predecessors have put out the civilian defence bill. The defence of the population remained in the tasks of local governments, which had to finance this from their own sources and were frequently incapable to – spoke in December 2024 Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish. Work under the leadership of the Ministry of Interior and Administration resulted in the adoption of a fresh civilian Protection and civilian Defence Act at the end of last year. The paper defined the legal and organisational framework of the OC strategy in Poland.
The OC Act obliged the government to make and adopt the civilian Defence and civilian Protection Programme with circumstantial actions of individual institutions and sources of funding. A fewer days ago, the Council of Ministers adopted the first specified plan, covering the period 2025–2026. Subsequent plans will already be drawn up over a four-year period, with the work to update by mid-term. At least 0.3% of GDP is to be allocated to each year. In the years 2025-2026, the budget of the programme will be PLN 16.7 billion and PLN 17.2 billion respectively, and 90% of these funds will go straight to local governments. "The main and strategical nonsubjective of the programme is to build a civilian protection and civilian protection strategy operating during all types of threats, regardless of the state's state of functioning," the introduction states.
From 2025 to 1926, precedence should be inventory of existing shelters and shelters for civilians, modernization to existing standards and construction of fresh installations of this type. Investment in areas covered by the National Fear and defence Programme “Tarcza East” and in large cities will be given precedence in implementation. For example, shelters are to be renovated under schools built in the 1960s, alleged millennials. The nonsubjective is to increase the number of shelters as shortly as possible. According to the March 2024 study of NIK, presently the strategy can accommodate little than 4% of the Polish population. For this purpose, the government plans to spend PLN 2.38 billion this year.
But not only will it be financed construction of shelters. The programme shall identify 5 further areas covered by its action. The second is to make logistical safety and to supply basic services in crisis situations. The programme provides for the construction of warehouses with equipment (e.g. logistics or medical equipment) in case of a crisis, the maintenance of food, water and dressing facilities in them, so that they supply the resources essential to defend the population for at least 3 days and guarantee continuity of energy supply, fuel supply, communications and transport.
The 3rd area concerns the maintenance and improvement of civilian protection entities, specified as the national rescue and firefighting system, the State Medical Rescue Service or non-governmental organisations specialising in this subject. They will receive support for the acquisition of specialist equipment for rescue, evacuation or humanitarian aid.
Government besides sees the request improving civilian protection education. The budget will finance training of local government staff and institutions covered by the OC strategy and investigation and improvement in the field of civilian protection. For the training of OC management development of field facilities and training infrastructure at the Fire Academy in Warsaw.
The 5th area is the construction of the safety of State Communications strategy (both open and undisclosed), which will warrant opposition to cyber threats and guarantee the communication of public administration with the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland. The systems for alerting, informing and informing the public about threats are besides to be upgraded and synchronized.
The last area awarded is the establishment of the civilian Defence Corps. This is simply a fresh institution, which will include persons who have been assigned a mobilization allocation of civilian protection, volunteers and officers of the State Fire Department. Corps forces are to be ready for immediate usage in the event of an emergency. A central OC registry will besides be established, covering staff, vehicles, equipment and protective facilities.
