“Twice it vanished from the map, swallowed up by its rapacious neighbours. After it emerged from the Second World War as a Soviet satellite, it endured decades of oppression. Today, Poland has transformed itself into Europe’s most overlooked military and economic power, with a bigger army than Britain, France or Germany and living standards, adjusted for purchasing power, that are about to eclipse Japan’s,” the British weekly starts its new article about Poland’s tomorrow. 

As the British weekly notes on Thursday, over the past 30 years, Poland has demonstrated just how much can be achieved through European Union integration and sound economic policy. Since 1995, the country’s income per capita has more than tripled, and since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has avoided recession, except for a brief period during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Economist attributes the surge in Polish industrial output largely to the country’s proximity to Germany. The magazine also notes significant economic development of the country under most cabinets after 1989, and especially under the previous conservative government. 

“As Germany, under its new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, embarks on a planned increase in infrastructure and defence spending, Poland is likely to be a major beneficiary,” the paper predicts.

“Poland has used its growing wealth to enhance its security,” the article states, reminding readers that Poland now boasts the largest army in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and Turkey—the third biggest within NATO. Warsaw is also planning to ramp up defence spending to over 5 per cent of annual GDP by 2026.

According to the paper, Poland’s military investment has bolstered its international standing. “Today, the group that matters in European security—and is sometimes dubbed the Four Musketeers—consists of the UK, France, Germany and Poland, the youngest of them, a rather brilliant d’Artagnan,” the article concludes.

Source: The Economist

Photo: @TheEconomist

Tomasz Modrzejewski