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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
The Netherlands will station 300 soldiers and two Patriot air defence systems in Poland from December, Warsaw has confirmed.
“We are doing this to protect NATO, defend Ukraine and deter Russia,” Ruben Brekelmans, defence minister of the Netherlands, explained earlier this week, quoted by Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, welcomed the decision, writing on X that “defending and protecting NATO’s eastern flank is a task for all allies”.
Obrona i ochrona wschodniej flanki NATO to zadanie wszystkich sojuszników. Od grudnia 300 holenderskich 🇳🇱żołnierzy będzie stacjonowało w Polsce🇵🇱 wraz z dwoma systemami obrony przeciwlotniczej Patriot. W tym roku Polska otrzyma także wsparcie holenderskich sił powietrznych.… pic.twitter.com/CV6z4QEmC5
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) August 21, 2025
“The Netherlands has declared its support for…securing our airspace and air defence systems”, owing to the ongoing war in Ukraine and Poland’s role as a logisitics hub for Kyiv, said Kosiniak-Kamysz on Thursday during a press conference, reports news service TVN24.
Welcoming the decision by Amsterdam to move military equipment and personnel to Poland, Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that from December, two of the three Dutch Patriot systems and 300 Dutch soldiers will be deployed in Poland alongside anti-drone systems.
He stressed that Poland is building “infrastructure and support for allied forces on Polish territory, protecting NATO’s eastern flank”.
Earlier this week, Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans announced that his country will continue to offer military support to the NATO logistics centre in Rzeszów, eastern Poland, until at least till 1 June 2026. He told Dutch media that the aim is “to show Russia there is no point in attacking this NATO hub for support to Ukraine”.
Rzeszów – and in particular its airport, known as Jasionka – has since 2022 been the primary hub for military equipment and humanitarian goods being sent to Ukraine, as well as for officials travelling in and out of the country.
Previously, the Netherlands pledged to deploy F-35 fighters that, between 1 September and 1 December, will patrol Polish airspace in a joint mission with Norwegian aircraft.
“In the face of war on our continent, cooperation in the field of defence is not a luxury, but a necessity,” said Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof during a visit to Warsaw in early June, where he met with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk.
The Netherlands will deliver air defence in Poland.
With Patriots, NASAMS, counter drone systems and 300 troops, we deploy advanced capabilities.
By this we defend NATO territory, protect supply to Ukraine, and deter Russian aggression. This strengthens our security. 🇳🇱🇵🇱🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/4msbEsEdR9
— Ruben Brekelmans (@DefensieMin) August 20, 2025
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Polish airspace has been occasionally violated, in particular in the eastern part of the country which borders Ukraine and Belarus.
Earlier this week, a Russian drone crashed and exploded in a village in eastern Poland, around 100 km from the Ukrainian border. The blast broke windows in several houses but caused no injuries.
In 2022, a missile – most likely launched by Ukrainian air defence systems – exploded in a Polish village near the border with Ukraine, killing two people. A year later, a Russian missile entered Polish airspace, flew for 40 km through the country’s territory and probably left its airspace without touching the ground.
Norway has announced that it will send F-35 fighter jets to Poland to help protect the airport in Rzeszów that serves as a hub for aid being delivered to Ukraine, and for officials travelling in and out of the country https://t.co/LAxV1ZTr8h
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 1, 2025
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.
Main image credit: Ministerie van Defensie (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. She is a member of the European Press Prize’s preparatory committee. She was 2022 Fellow at the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at City University of New York. In 2024, she graduated from the Advanced Leadership Programme for Top Talents at the Center for Leadership. She has previously contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy and Duży Format.
