Since late February and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polish self-defence clubs and military training facilities have observed a staggering rise in popularity. 

A recent survey conducted by IBRiS reveals that nearly 3 out of 4 Poles would agree to the introduction of a 16-day military course for citizens aged between 18 and 55. 

Such a training would consist of learning to shoot as well as learning the self-defence basics and behaviour in the case of an emergency.

It turned out that 39% of the respondents assessed such an idea as “good”, while 31.3% of them perceive it as “rather good”. In turn, only 10.7% of respondents considered it “wrong” and 15% as “definitely wrong”.

Interestingly, no significant differences in answers have been observed regarding declared political affiliations, although it has slightly more support among the supporters of the nationalist Confederation (86%) and the ruling United Right (85%).

Given the results, it can fairly be assessed that a large majority of Poles – men and women – are in favour of strengthening the nations’ readiness in the case of a potential military attack. 

The reintroduction of military training has been gaining popularity in the last decade, in particular since Russia’s aggression on Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014. 

Back then, 65% of Poles declared to be in favour of “the introduction of compulsory military training for adult residents”, while only 27% declared themselves opposed to such an idea. 

The most recent survey reveals that the main reasons why Poles would be keen on joining the army were among others the willingness to help others (22.4%), the defence of Polish borders (12.6%) and service to the motherland (12, 5%).

It also arrived at the conclusion that „the greater the declared knowledge about the history of Poland and the world, the greater the willingness to participate in defence activities„. 

Image: Twitter @terytorialsi

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen