Former Polish defence minister opposes transfer of Patriot missiles to Ukraine
Mariusz Błaszczak, former Polish defence minister, has said that the government's plans to provide Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defence systems are unacceptable.
Source: Błaszczak on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda
Details: The former minister was responding to comments by Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, who said that a decision on providing Ukraine with missiles for Patriot systems could be made in the coming days.
Quote: "This is absolutely unacceptable. These missiles were purchased to defend Polish airspace, Polish cities and Polish families. Not for Donald Tusk's government to give them away, putting our security at risk."
Background:
- In July, Poland's Defence Ministry officially confirmed that Poland had transferred PAC-3 missiles, designed for Patriot systems, to Ukraine several months earlier. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the package contained five missiles.
- Following the latest incident in which a missile fell on Polish territory, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Warsaw will shortly consider transferring additional missiles for Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine.
- Ukraine is suffering from an acute shortage of missiles for Patriot systems – the only air defence systems capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
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