Poland Drops Mandatory ‘Gender Training’ For Troops

By Staff, Agencies

The Polish Defense Ministry has scrapped a supplementary course on “gender perspectives in military operations” following strong backlash from right-wing lawmakers.

The ministry said on Monday the program had been scrapped by Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who appeared to blame his predecessors for its introduction in the first place.

The training “may [have been] organized based on the decision of the previous minister,” Mariusz Blaszczak, the ministry’s statement said. 

“The topic of supplementary training regarding gender was proposed by the chairwoman of the Council for Women’s Military Service and approved by the defense ministry’s human resources department,” it added. 

The existence of the program became public earlier this month, when local media reported on the issue. The gender training course has reportedly caused discontent among soldiers, who claimed the introduction of the optional program left them “surprised” and “frustrated.”

“Many of us think the army should focus on combat readiness, not on what some see as ideological issues,” an anonymous serviceman told Blask, adding that troops consider the training unnecessary and unrelated to daily service.

The right-wing opposition mocked the defense minister for being slow to embrace “woke” policies, noting that the US under President Donald Trump had already cut diversity and inclusion programs in the military.

“When the entire world, with the US at the front, is moving away from ‘woke’ culture…Kosiniak-Kamysz is introducing such inventions,” said PiS lawmaker Andrzej Sliwka, joking about biodegradable missiles and electric tanks.

Ex-defense minister Blaszczak blamed the US and accused his successor of yielding to EU pressure over the gender training. “We cannot give in to such blackmail by such irrational people, who are trying to push the United States out of Europe,” he said.