President Andrzej Duda has signed a document giving consent for German troops to be stationed on Polish soil in order to operate the Patriot air defence systems that Germany is transferring to Poland.
Several hundred personnel from the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, will be based in the Lublin region of eastern Poland, with the first due to arrive after this weekend, reports the Polish IAR news agency.
German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung also reported on Wednesday that the Bundeswehr has begun preparations to supply Poland with three Patriot missile batteries and Ukraine with one.
Prezydent @AndrzejDuda wydał zgodę na stacjonowanie żołnierzy z #Niemcy w Polsce https://t.co/HxHvztFk0k
— Rzeczpospolita (@rzeczpospolita) January 12, 2023
The offer to Poland was made by Berlin following an incident in November, when a stray Ukrainian air defence missile crossed the border and landed in Poland, killing two people.
The Polish government suggested that the German Patriots should instead be transferred to western Ukraine. Initially, Berlin rejected that idea and instead moved ahead with plans to place the Patriots in eastern Poland.
However, last week, Germany, along with other western countries, agreed to increase its military support for Ukraine, including the transfer of a Patriot battery.
When Germany offered Patriot systems to Poland in November, Warsaw initially proposed that they instead be sent to Ukraine.
But Berlin rejected that request at the time https://t.co/lrBhMhBMBq
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 7, 2023
Meanwhile, Poland has also been seeking permission from Germany to transfer some of its Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Because they are German-made, Berlin’s consent is required.
During a visit to Lviv on Wednesday, Duda confirmed that Poland wants to hand over one company of Leopards – which would comprise 10 to 14 tanks – to Ukraine.
However, while the Polish government last weekend said that “talks are ongoing” with Germany over the issue, a German government spokesman subsequently said that they have received no inquiry from Poland regarding the transfer of the tanks.
The German government's spokesman has told @PolsatNewsPL that they have received no inquiry from Warsaw regarding the transfer of Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Poland's prime minister said at the weekend that "talks are ongoing" with Berlin over the idea https://t.co/wNt4e3ruBr
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 9, 2023
Main image credit: NATO/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
