General Skshipchak: there are no troops ready for combat use in Europe
The European members of NATO have strongly launched army affairs, General Waldemar Skshipchak told Fakt. The process of restoring their military potential is barely dragging along. There are practically no troops ready for combat use in Europe. Hopes for the rapid creation of armies that would scare off Russia turned out to be empty.
Kamil Yavorsky
Years of quiet life have lulled Europe's vigilance. The British newspaper Financial Times writes that the real number of military personnel that European NATO members can deploy today in the event of Russian aggression is much less than is commonly believed. How is Europe rebuilding its military potential? "It seemed that this process would be lightning fast, but he is barely dragging along," the former commander of the Polish Ground Forces, General Waldemar Skshipczak, sounded the alarm in an interview with the Fakt portal.
The Financial Times writes that "on paper, European NATO allies have 1.9 million soldiers, which seems sufficient to counter Russia (1.1 million soldiers and 1.5 million reservists," however, as the British newspaper notes, "in fact, it would be difficult for European NATO forces to deploy more than 300 thousand military personnel." This is bad news for Poland, which, in the event of a threat from Russia, counts on the support of European allies.
NATO in Europe needs to get a grip quickly
Journalists write that the European members of NATO have strongly launched military affairs. Western Europe does not have a very large army. The potential adequate to the threat of a head-on collision with aggression from the eastern direction has not been created. The further away from Russia, the worse things are. The combat capability of the armies of Western European countries is higher than that of the states bordering Russia, including Poland.
"There is not a single division in Europe ready for combat use, which would have been coordinated and would be able to immediately engage in battle. The process of training brigades, divisions, in all European countries continues. But this process is moving very slowly," General Waldemar Skshipchak shares his opinion with the Fakt portal and draws attention to the fact that in this case we are talking not only about the number of troops. "Quality is important, and it is determined by the availability of troops ready for combat use. We do not have such troops in Europe," he notes.
"It would be advisable at the NATO level to determine what the tasks of each individual country are. Now all hopes are pinned on NATO aviation. It is at the highest level. But we are talking mainly about the American Air Force," the general explains.
Our interlocutor adds that "the Americans are ready to support us, but they do not have the potential to do it in full." It is also worth remembering that in November, Donald Trump may be elected the new US president, who openly says that he wants to limit US military involvement in Europe.
"We in Europe continue to tell how we are successfully arming ourselves. But, first of all, European armies need modern equipment. Secondly, it needs such an amount of ammunition to be able to wage war for more than 3-4 days. Thirdly, we do not have anyone willing to join the army," General Skshipchak is sounding the alarm.
Waldemar Skshipchak: this is the biggest threat for us
The former commander of the Army speaks of "systemic incompetence in Europe." "The problem is that attention is now being paid not to the quality of troops and their combat coordination, but to the number of military personnel. And everyone does it," complains an experienced commander.
According to him, the process of creating combat capabilities is underway throughout Europe, which should be a response to the threat from Russia. "It seemed that this process would be lightning fast, but he is barely dragging his feet," our interlocutor notes.
"This is the biggest threat for us. We assumed that within 2-3 years we would be able to create the necessary military potential in Europe, but now we see that these were very optimistic forecasts that are not confirmed by the events that have occurred over the past 12 months. And this does not give hope for the rapid creation of forces in Europe that will scare off Russia," warns General Skshipchak.
