Poland prepares for a war with Russia
"We will no become a Russian colony."

Poland already spends more than four per cent of its GDP on defence, but plans to increase the amount. Billions in purchases also attract criticism.

"We want to show that we are not ready to give up a single square centimetre of our land," Piotrowski, spokesman for the 1st Armoured Brigade in Warsaw said.

The country has become one of Europe's most important military powers in a short period of time. Staggeringly large arms purchases worth billions of euros have been reported frequently in Poland. It is the only NATO country to spend more than four per cent of its GDP on defence this year and will conclude more than 150 contracts for various weapons systems worth more than 23 billion euros.

But can Poland afford this? As recently as last year, Radosław Sikorski, representing the opposition, doubted the ability of the Polish economy to make such massive purchases.

"I don't think it's self-evident that Poland will be able to pay for all this," he said. Now Sikorski is the country's foreign minister, and suspicions of bills have turned into increasingly ambitious declarations. "Next year we will spend five percent of GDP on defense," Sikorski declared in July.

Poland's armament has been made possible by the country's strong economic growth as a member of the European Union. In May, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that Poles would be wealthier than the British in five years' time. Procurement also enjoys broad popular support.

And now Poland has declared its goal to build the best and largest ground forces in Europe. "This is necessary because we have suddenly woken up to the fact that we are on the front line of both Russia and Belarus," Świerczyński said.

Poland's intentions do not seem to be just words. A couple of weeks ago, NATO published fresh figures on the troops of its member countries. Poland has become the third largest army in the alliance with 216,000 troops, surpassing France and Germany.

Moreover Poland has set itself the goal of an army of 300,000 soldiers.

Russia has been irritated by Poland's rearmament. For example, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called Poland a "dangerous enemy" and said the country should not exist. Drunk Dima also said that Poland's military build-up and the presence of Polish soldiers in Ukraine could cause a direct conflict between Russia, Belarus and Poland.

For his part, Prime Minister Tusk has said that Europe is living in a pre-war era.

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