Polish president says costs of Afghan war hampering military’s modernization

Polish leader: War costs slow army’s modernization

BRUSSELS — Poland’s president said Wednesday the rising cost of the war in Afghanistan is hampering a program to modernize the military.

Bronislaw Komorowski reiterated that Poland remains committed to the NATO-led war effort in Afghanistan, but also called on the allies to set an exit strategy for the military campaign there.

Poland spends some $1 billion annually — or about 10 percent of its defense budgets — to finance its 2,600-member contingent that serves in Afghanistan. This comes at a time when the 100,000-strong Polish armed forces are in the midst of a wide-ranging program designed to replace aging Soviet-made equipment.

“The costs of out-of-area operations are so significant, that they are having an effect on the process of technical modernization of the armed forces,” Komorowski said after a meeting with NATO’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The program includes the purchase of new armored personnel carriers and multiple-rocket launchers for the army, corvettes for the navy, and unmanned drones and C-130 Hercules transport planes for the air force.

Other NATO members also have been forced to juggle their budget priorities because of the war. Defense budgets in nearly all nations of the military alliance are being slashed as part of public spending cuts and other austerity measures designed to deal with the impact of the economic crisis.

Many governments are also facing public opposition to the war in Afghanistan.

“We should define clearly a strategy of putting an end to the military engagement in Afghanistan,” Komorowski said.

Fogh Rasmussen praised the Polish contribution in Afghanistan, and noted that Polish troops serve in one of the most dangerous parts of the country. Twenty Polish soldiers have died so far in the war.

Fogh Rasmussen said he hopes NATO-led troops can start transferring responsibility for security to the Afghan security forces next year.

“We have endorsed (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai’s ambition that Afghan security forces should take over lead responsibility for security all over Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and I hope this process will start next year,” he said.

“We will stay committed as long as it takes to finish our job (but) obviously that is not forever,” Fogh Rasmussen said.