00:00 Poland held a massive parade in its capital Warsaw on Tuesday to showcase its military
00:08 might as the country seeks to strengthen its defence capabilities in the wake of the war
00:13 in neighbouring Ukraine.
00:15 This largest parade since the Cold War came as tensions rise on the border between the
00:19 NATO nation and key Russian ally Belarus.
00:23 The Armed Forces Day parade took place on the anniversary of the 1920 Battle of Warsaw
00:28 in which Polish troops defeated Bolshevik forces advancing on Europe.
00:32 Around 2,000 soldiers from Poland and other countries of the NATO military alliance participated
00:37 in the parade.
00:38 They marched through Warsaw accompanied by 200 items of defence equipment while helicopters
00:43 including Black Hawks and jets including F-16s and F/A-50s flew overhead.
00:49 Among the equipments on display were US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks, South Korean K2 tanks and
00:55 K9 self-propelled howitzers as well as Himars mobile artillery systems, Patriot air defence
01:00 systems and Polish-made Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles.
01:05 Poland a NATO member supports Kiev in its war against Russia.
01:09 The country's right-wing government headed by the Law and Justice Party has been beefing
01:13 up its defence preparedness spending over $16 billion on tanks, missile interceptor systems
01:19 and fighter jets over the past two years.
01:22 The Law and Justice Party has vowed to double the size of the army and spend around 4% of
01:27 the nation's economic output on defence this year.
01:30 The increased spending on weapons procurement have bolstered Polish defence capabilities.
01:35 Poland has emerged as one of Europe's leading military powers in recent years after pouring
01:40 billions into new equipment following Russia's decision to annex the Ukrainian peninsula
01:44 of Crimea in 2014.
01:47 Warsaw's diplomatic clout has also grown in the wake of the instrumental role it has
01:50 played in supporting Ukraine since Moscow's full-scale invasion.
01:55 Last week, Poland announced the deployment of thousands of additional troops to its eastern
01:59 border as concerns mount over the presence of Russian Wagner mercenary forces in Belarus.
02:05 Poland shares borders not just with Ukraine and Belarus but also with Russia's semi-exclave
02:10 of Kaliningrad.
02:11 By staging a massive showcase of power yesterday, Warsaw is perhaps sending a message that Russia
02:17 and Belarus are bound to understand.
02:19 At the same time, Poland is just two months away from major elections and aside from showing
02:24 its capabilities to Russia and its allies, the Polish government is also seeking to reassure
02:29 its own people that it is indeed committed to security.
02:33 The governing right-wing Law and Justice Party is hoping to secure a third consecutive term
02:38 in power which would be unprecedented in post-communist Poland.
02:42 This is the latest in the latest news from the Polish government.
02:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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