Poland to accept German Patriot air defence system

Poland will accept a Patriot missile defence system that Germany offered to settle in the country last month, the country's defence minister said on Tuesday.

I was disappointed to accept the decision to reject Ukraine's” support, Mariusz Blasczak said on Twitter.

“Placing the Patriots in western Ukraine would boost the security of the Polish and Ukrainians,” he added.

He said both sides were continuing with agreements on the deployment of launchers to Poland “and their connection to our command system”.

Germany's bid to send the Patriot missile defence system to Poland triggered a political storm in Warsaw after a missile lost from Ukraine fell on Polish territory, killing two people.

Blasczak welcomed the move, saying the system should be located on the Ukrainian border.

Law and Justice Party ( PIS, the largest member of the ruling coalition, which does not want the nationalist electorate to secede from it, gave a surprise response to Germany's offer.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who heads the PPS, said it would be better for Germany to hand over the air defence system to Ukraine.

German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on November 24th that the “these Patriot missile defence systems are part of NATO air protection and are destined for NATO regions”.

The Patriot system offered to Poland was part of NATO's integrated air defence and would be deployed only on NATO territory.

Late last month, Polish Prime Minister Matthews Morawiecki said that if Germany did not hand over Ukraine the Patriot missile defence system, his country would accept it.

Blaszczak also later announced on Twitter that the US government had given the go-ahead for adding 116 Abrams tanks to the country's military. According to Blazczak, the Polish Armed Forces are not yet fully armoured.

He stressed the importance of military power, saying that the sale of tanks was approved by American authorities and that they are still negotiating the price. /AAA