Germany to extend Patriot deployment in Poland until year-end

2023-08-09 13:42 update: 2023-08-09, 19:15
Photo PAP/Jakub Kamiński
Photo PAP/Jakub Kamiński
Germany has confirmed it will extend the deployment of Patriot air defence systems in Poland until the end of 2023, the Polish defence ministry said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Germany had offered to extend the presence of the Patriots in Poland until the end of the year. 

The German Defence Ministry, according to Reuters, announced that a further extension of the deployment "is not foreseen" because in 2024 some of the Patriots will be included in Nato's rapid response force, while others will have to undergo maintenance.

In July, Mariusz Blaszczak, Polish defence minister, said after meeting his German counterpart Boris Pistorius in the south-eastern city of Zamosc, that Poland was interested in keeping German Patriot missile systems in Poland "at least until the end of the year".

Germany deployed its Patriots to Poland in January after a stray Ukrainian surface-to-air missile landed on Polish territory last November killing two people. 

According to Reuters, along with three Patriot air defence systems, some 300 German soldiers are based in Zamosc, about 50 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. (PAP)
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