The discussion over mandatory military service in Poland has been reignited by the Chief of the National Security Bureau (BBN), Jacek Siewiera. Siewiera advocates for a national debate on the matter, emphasizing that the current needs of the army extend beyond mere rifle drills on the training ground.
In a recent statement, Siewiera proposed the notion of “mandatory civil service” rather than traditional military conscription. He highlighted that in Western countries, the topic of conscription or mandatory service is much more widely debated and intense compared to Poland.
“It’s somewhat perplexing why this debate remains so challenging for us,” Siewiera remarked in an interview on the YouTube channel This is IT. He attributed this difficulty to the past perception of the army, shaped by the Soviet model: violent, disregarding human rights, and disciplined in a manner that served aggression rather than order.
However, Siewiera stressed that today’s army offers diverse opportunities for individuals to pursue various ambitions, be they professional, academic, or personal. He pointed out areas such as logistics, planning, handling advanced weaponry, and cyber and cognitive warfare as examples of roles far removed from the front lines.