Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) — Poland’s strategic location, record defense investments, and rising diplomatic influence have positioned it as a key player in European security, reshaping NATO’s eastern flank and strengthening its role within the EU.
Record breaking military investments
In 2025, Poland has announced a new record-breaking defense budget of 49 billion dollars, or 4.7% of its GDP. This amount not only exceeds NATO’s 2% spending guideline, but it also ranks third in Europe, behind only France (55 billion dollars) and Germany (58 billion dollars). Importantly, 51% of this defense budget is allocated to equipment procurement, which guarantees that its increasing defense budget leads to real improvements in military capabilities, quickly imposing Poland’s newfound military leverage within NATO and the EU.
New diplomatic responsibilities
With the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2025, Poland is assuming a crucial diplomatic role, managing an agenda of 945 meetings. Its economic ascent is also compounding with its military one – as of 2023, it ranks as the sixth-largest economy in the EU and contributes 4.4% of the bloc’s GDP. Poland is also surpassing several of its EU peers with growth rates of 3.2% in 2024 and 3.6% in 2025, which will further contribute to its increasing economic influence and diplomatic influence within the EU. Its central location has also positioned it as a leader in regional initiatives like the 2015 Three Seas Initiative (3SI), pushing for closer economic and security cooperation across central and eastern Europe. Meanwhile, with France and Germany stuck in political crises that may very well push them toward far-right governments, Poland’s pro-European Union coalition led by Donald Tusk could seize the opportunity to present itself as a stable and credible representative for the EU on the international stage.
Poland’s geographical relevance
Poland occupies a strategically crucial position on NATO’s eastern flank, serving as a vital buffer state between Russia and Western Europe due to its borders with Belarus, Ukraine, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. This has made it the best possible respondent for direct support of Ukraine, as well as for potentially protecting the Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania) against a Russian or Belarusian aggression. Ironically, in a time of rising geopolitical tensions, Poland’s strategically sensitive location is exactly what makes it one of the EU’s and NATO’s most valued assets.
The question remains: can Poland leverage this momentum to solidify its position as an indispensable anchor of European security and cooperation in the future?
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