Poland is ready to train Ukrainian soldiers for the newly created Ukrainian Legion, but the number of people willing to join it turned out to be insufficient. This was stated by Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysh during interview Virtual Poland.
According to the minister, Poland has prepared for military training in accordance with the security agreement signed between Ukraine and Poland in July 2023. He emphasized that Warsaw has already trained more than 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers on Polish territory, which is the largest number among countries within the EU mission and bilateral cooperation.
“We are not responsible for recruitment (to the Ukrainian Legion – ed.), but for training and training. We are ready for this training, but the number of people who were supposed to volunteer from the Ukrainian side is too small.”, Kosinyak-Kamysh noted.
He added that the Polish side has been in a state of readiness for training since the beginning of September, but the number of people willing to sign up for the legion does not meet previous expectations.
“Declarations from the Ukrainian side were such that it will be a very large number, from which one brigade can even be formed, that is, several thousand people. But there are not so many willing.”, – noted the deputy prime minister.
Kosiniak-Kamys also noted that there are emotional reactions in Polish society due to the fact that, despite the significant need for Ukrainian soldiers, many young men who live in Poland and speak Ukrainian do not express a desire to join the legion.
We will remind that the security agreement signed in Warsaw on July 8 provides for the creation of a new volunteer unit in Poland – the Ukrainian Legion.
