Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak has proposed to Berlin that the Patriot missile batteries offered to Poland by Germany should be transferred to Ukraine. “This will save Ukraine from further casualties and blackouts and will increase security at our eastern border”, the Deputy Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.

“When I read about the Polish defence ministry’s proposal to Germany that Patriot missile sets be handed over to Ukraine, it brought a smile to my face. This is a very wise proposal and an important appeal”, said Oleksandr Musiyenko, an expert at the Ukrainian Centre for Military and Legal Research.

He stressed that recent Russian missile attacks have wreaked havoc on Ukrainian infrastructure. “During the first phase of shelling, around 70 rockets were fired, with our armed forces shooting down around 50 of them.  Nevertheless, around 20 rockets hit their target”, Musiyenko said.

However, on Thursday 24 November, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht stated that the Patriot air defence systems offered to Poland were intended for use on NATO territory. She thus opposed the Polish proposal to send the missiles to Ukraine.

Referring to the matter, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said that “if there is a need and the Ministry of Defence perceives it, and Germany is ready to deliver these batteries in the way it will be needed for the Polish army, then I think that Prime Minister Błaszczak will continue these negotiations in a positive way.”

He recalled that it is important in this context to secure the Polish skies, but “in an effective and not just in a declarative way”. This is what we have been requesting from the Americans, the British and we have succeeded. In recent months, American Patriot batteries have been dislocated in Poland, and there is a British system so that Poles can feel safe”, added the deputy head of Polish diplomacy.

Adrian Andrzejewski