The US will lend Poland a further $2 billion (8.1 billion zloty) to fund the purchase of American air and missile defence systems, the Polish defence ministry has announced.
The agreement – which marks the second such loan to Poland under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme following one in September last year – is “an expression of the continuously developing strategic relationship between Poland and the US”, wrote the ministry.
Poland and the United States have signed a direct loan agreement under the Foreign Military Financing program for $2 billion. The funds will be used to further strengthen Poland's defense capabilities through the purchase of air and missile defense systems from the American side. https://t.co/2xOPsWiiTl
— Embassy of Poland U.S. (@PolishEmbassyUS) July 1, 2024
It notes that such loans are available “only to selected US allies with whom the United States maintains close defense cooperation” and says the terms are “very favourable”, though without revealing the details.
The air and missile defence systems that will be purchased through the agreement “are a priority for the Polish armed forces under current threats”, added the ministry.
In February, Poland signed a $2.5 billion deal with the US for an advanced air defence system and the US State Department also approved the $1.2 billion sale to Poland of four radar reconnaissance airships capable of detecting airborne targets.
Sorry to interrupt your reading. The article continues below.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Those purchases were the latest in a major procurement spree – mainly from the US and South Korea – embarked upon by Poland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both last year and this year Poland is NATO’s highest relative spender on defence, devoting the equivalent of around 4% of GDP.
“The United States remains our main foreign partner in the modernisation of the Polish armed forces,” said the defence ministry in its statement yesterday.
Washington has not yet commented on the latest Foreign Military Financing agreement with Poland.
Poland is @NATO's biggest defence spender this year in relative terms.
It is spending 4.12% of GDP on defence, more than double the alliance's guideline of 2% https://t.co/8WRALkOCSt
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 19, 2024
Main image credit: MON (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
