The formation of the Ukrainian Legion was announced jointly back in July by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, according to which Poland committed to training a Ukrainian legion on its territory. However, it has hit a major snag, namely, a lack of willing participants, according to Poland’s defense minister, reports TVP Info.
This unit was to include volunteers from among Ukrainians permanently residing in Poland and other European countries and was to be trained by the Polish Army.
“We have also agreed… to form and train a Ukrainian legion in Poland. This will be a new formation made up of volunteers, which, following the example of the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade, could enable Ukrainian citizens in Poland to take part in the defense of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president had said in July.
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“The Ukrainian legion would undergo training in Poland, would be equipped and armed. Every Ukrainian citizen who decides to join the legion will be able to sign a contract with the Ukrainian armed forces,” Zelensky had also noted.
When asked about the progress in creating the Legion, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized that the number of Ukrainians willing to join its ranks is too small for the Polish Army to be able to conduct training.
“We have been on standby since the beginning of September. The Ukrainian declarations were very high, that one brigade could be formed, i.e., there would be several thousand people. There are not that many volunteers,” he emphasized. Kosiniak-Kamysz added that the Polish side is not responsible for recruiting soldiers but for conducting their training.
Back in July, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said during the NATO Public Forum, organized on the occasion of the NATO summit in Washington, that several thousand people have already registered in Poland to join the Ukrainian Legion, the new Ukrainian volunteer military unit.
“We have up to 1 million Ukrainians of both sexes (in the country), and several thousand of them have already registered to take part in this undertaking,” Sikorski had said. He added that these volunteers want to help out their compatriots on the frontline but do not want to be sent to fight without proper training and equipment.
In August, Zelensky also signed laws on providing support to servicemen participating in the operation in the Kursk region of Russia and for granting Ukrainian citizenship to the International Territorial Defense Legion.
