* 'No country can be subsidised indefinitely'- minister
* Says Afghan economy can grow if country stable
* Polish armed forces to pull out in stages
* Poland looking to re-launch tender for military aircraft
By Gabriela Baczynska
WARSAW, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan cannot expect current levels of Western financial aid for its armed forces to be sustained beyond 2014, when NATO forces plan to pull out, Poland's defence minister said on Thursday.
European members of the alliance have been coming under pressure to help sustain the Afghan armed forces after NATO's planned withdrawal.
But Tomasz Siemoniak signalled that Poland, the largest ex-communist NATO member with nearly 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, was not willing to pass on the so-called "transition dividend" - money it now spends on maintaining its presence there - to Kabul after 2014.
"No country can be subsidised indefinitely," he told Reuters in an interview.
He said Afghanistan needed to be focused on building political stability to attract investors.
"My perspective is more political and military than economic. I believe what will be going on in Afghanistan beyond 2014 will depend on political stability. Now it's hard to imagine somebody investing money in such an unstable country," Siemoniak said.
"But in the future Afghanistan can become a very attractive place for some countries and industries when it comes to natural resources. Afghanistan will find ways of generating economic growth if it is politically stable and safe."
NATO's mission to Afghanistan and international aid currently account for more than 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), Siemoniak said.
European Union defence ministers will discuss the issue in Brussels next month, before a meeting of NATO heads of state and government in Chicago in May, he said.
The United States is now seeking to engage Afghanistan's former leaders the Taliban, ousted by the U.S.-led NATO campaign, in a dialogue over Afghanistan's future. The Taliban said this month they were ready to open a political office in the Gulf state of Qatar.
Siemoniak said Poland will decrease the number of its troops in three stages, leaving no fewer than 1,000 soldiers in Afghanistan at any one time to ensure capabilities and safety.
He said Warsaw planned "to implement the reductions during winter contingents because they tend to be calmer, so in 2012, 2013 and 2014".
2012 PLANS
Siemoniak also said Poland will launch a new tender to buy training aircraft this year, after it ditched a 1.5-billion-zloty ($426-million) purchase of 16 training combat jets in late 2011 because of unsatisfactory offers and spending cuts.
"Our air force would want to stick to 16 jets, but some in the ministry believe that may be too much, so the question now is whether it'll be 10, 12 or 16 aircraft," he said, adding that the overall value of the tender would be below 1.5 billion zlotys.
Warsaw also needs to purchase some five transport planes, 26 helicopters and is interested in buying further multi-role military vehicles produced in Poland under the licence of Finnish producer Patria, he told Reuters.
Siemoniak wants to simplify the Polish military's commanding structures as of 2014 and streamline decision-making in the armed forces, under Warsaw's austerity plans. ($1 = 3.5205 Polish zlotys) (Editing by Gareth Jones and Alessandra Rizzo)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
