Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak met with United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin. The meeting took place at the USA-Eagle encampment in Wysoka Głogowska near Rzeszów. The topics of the talks included bilateral military cooperation and the security situation in the region.

“I would like to strongly emphasise that Polish-American relations are crucial for the security of our country and the entire eastern flank of NATO. It can be said that Poland is the most important ally of the United States on NATO’s eastern flank, as evidenced by the fact that around 10,000 US troops are stationed in Poland. Before 2015, there were only a few or a few dozen soldiers”, said the head of the Ministry of Defence after a meeting with the US Secretary of Defence.

The Rzeszów airport, where the US Secretary of Defence’s plane landed and took off, is a symbolic place due to the cooperation between Polish and American soldiers and strategically important from the point of view of providing aid to Ukraine fighting Russian aggression. It is through this route that a significant amount of support is sent, coming from Poland and the United States.

The talks between the two defence ministers also focused on current and future cooperation between Poland and the United States.

“Thanks to excellent relations with the United States, the Polish Army is being equipped with modern weapons. Examples include Abrams tanks, but also Himars launchers. We spoke to Lloyd Austin about Apache helicopters, which will already be on the Polish Army’s equipment next year. Polish pilots are already training in the USA”, reported the head of the Ministry of Defence.

The Minister of National Defence and the US Secretary of Defence, during a meeting with soldiers at the USA-Eagle camp, thanked them for their service, allowing the stream of aid to Ukraine, which is defending itself against Russian aggression, to flow uninterrupted.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński