Federal Defense Minister: Pistorius in Poland: Talks about Patriots of the Bundeswehr

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Federal Defense Minister
Pistorius in Poland: Talks about Patriots of the Bundeswehr

Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius travels to Zamosc. photo

© Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

Federal Defense Minister Pistorius visits the Bundeswehr’s Patriot anti-aircraft contingent in Zamosc in southern Poland. A meeting with counterpart Blaszczak should also deal with unresolved disputes.

Secretary of Defense Boris Pistorius (SPD) has arrived in south-eastern Poland for a visit. He wants to visit the Bundeswehr’s Patriot contingent there. A meeting with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak is also planned in a barracks in the city of Zamosc. It is expected that the possible further stationing of the German air defense systems and unresolved disputes regarding the construction and operation of a repair center for Leopard 2 main battle tanks, which were left to Ukraine to ward off the Russian war of aggression, will be discussed.

After the conversation, Pistorius visits the firing positions of the Patriot anti-aircraft systems outside the city. Around 320 members of the Bundeswehr have been deployed in Zamosc since the end of January. They operate a total of three Patriot systems at two locations. Zamosc is not far from Poland’s border with Ukraine, which has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for the past 16 months. The Patriot systems are designed to protect Poland’s airspace.

There had been political bickering between Berlin and Warsaw over their stationing. The then Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had agreed with her Polish colleague Blaszczak to relocate German Patriots to Poland. But then Blaszczak suddenly suggested that Germany should better station the Patriots in Ukraine. This caused considerable irritation in Berlin. Finally an agreement was reached.

dpa

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