According to the authors of the ranking, Poland, together with the U.S., Australia, Ukraine and France are among the top most important military allies of the United Kingdom. The basis for such high qualification is the cooperation in the military industry, British military presence in the country and joint aid for Ukraine. 

The study commentary says “British practitioners and experts look favourably on Poland’s military modernisation plans,” and therefore “Warsaw is regarded as the UK’s fifth most important ally both now and in 2030.” 

One of the decisive factors for Poland to be ranked among the top five UK allies was that some 100 British troops have been stationed in Poland since 2022 to defend its airspace using the Sky Sabre defence system. In a full paragraph describing the cooperation and the alliance with Poland the study says: 

“Further west, British practitioners and experts evidently look favourably on Poland’s military modernisation plans with Warsaw regarded as the UK’s fifth most important ally both now and in 2030. Since 2022, 100 British troops have been stationed in Poland to defend its airspace using the Sky Sabre defence system. Meanwhile, UK-Poland defence industrial interests are coalescing around the Type 31 frigate, which will be in service with both navies by 2030. In 2022, Britain, Poland, and Ukraine signed a trilateral pact to advance cooperation across a range of issues, including cyber and energy security. The IRR notes that ‘our bilateral ties with some European nations – such as Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states – are now closer than they have been at any point for decades.”

Also, the British and Polish defence industrial interests are uniting, especially around the Type 31 frigate project (Miecznik), which shall enter service in both navies by 2030. 

The study quotes research co-authored by dr Przemysław Biskup saying “Our bilateral ties with some European nations – such as Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states – are now closer than they have been at any point for decades.”

You can read our conversation with Dr Przemysław Biskup on Polish-British relations in our article New British government seeks closer cooperation with the EU.

The study was prepared in the form of a two-part survey:

1. Bilateral alliances and partnerships; 

2. Mini/multilateral alliances and security arrangements. Participants were asked to interpret ‘allies’ and ‘partners’ broadly, including formal treaty allies and countries with which the UK enjoys informal security ties.

You can read the full study here.

Photo: PAP Łukasz Gągulski

Tomasz Modrzejewski