Defence and interior ministers outline plans for 2017

Addressing a joint press conference following a meeting with Prime Minister Beata Szydło on Wednesday, Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said that his ministry will be purchasing key military equipment.

“In the coming year we will focus on modernising the missile defence system,” Macierewicz said.

He added that a contract for a medium-range air defence system will be signed in 2017.

Other priorities will be improving cyber defences, for which around PLN 1 billion has been earmarked, and signing contacts for three new submarines. Macierewicz also said that this year his ministry will finalise a deal for new helicopters for the Polish army.

Interior Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said that the main focus of his ministry will be to modernise the framework of the police, army and border guards, as well as to reopen police stations which were closed by the previous government. He said that the programme will cost some PLN 9 billion between 2017 and 2020.

Błaszcak added that another focus of the ministry is to clarify laws in light of the migration crisis in the EU.

PM Szydło said she expects the defence and interior ministries to implement these objectives, which will strengthen the security of Poles, but added that its important to look at the wider picture.

The ministries must protect the “everyday security of Polish families, but also in a broader dimension,” Szydło said.

“Economic development and safety – these are the two goals that we have set as the most important tasks for 2017.”

(rg)