A postal service spokesperson on Wednesday said postal workers in Poland are to be trained by soldiers to use weapons, against the backdrop of the Ukraine war.
The spokesperson said an agreement with the Polish army’s Homeland Security (WOT) will be signed in August.
A decree from the postal service’s board said the employees will learn safety rules for handling weapons and acquire “basic shooting skills” in the course.
The training was aimed at improving Poland’s defence preparedness, the homeland security spokesman told the newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Polska.
Poland’s postal service has about 70,000 employees. One thousand places have been earmarked for the first training session, with further offers to follow.
Participation was voluntary. Graduates of the training have good chances of being accepted into the homeland security associations.
Poland has been planning to increase the number of its armed forces for some time. For example, a voluntary basic military service was recently introduced.
Currently, the Polish army has 110,000 soldiers, in addition to the 30,000 men and women in homeland security.
There are plans to increase the number of personnel to 250,000 professional soldiers and 50,000 members of homeland security. (dpa/NAN)
