A political dispute has erupted in Poland over the possible delivery in the spring of US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, with the opposition claiming that this happened without the knowledge of parliament or the president and that Poland itself needed the weapons, DPA reported.
“These missiles are a key element of the defense of Polish airspace against ballistic missiles and other threats“, said former Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, a member of the main opposition party “PiS“, on the social network “Ex“. The politician called on the government to immediately clarify the issue.
In In response, Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said the list of military aid to Ukraine was classified.
The dispute erupted after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine was running out of "key missiles" because the war with Iran was causing a shortage.
In March, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius tried to find more than 30 Patriot missiles - together with other European countries, and at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany in April, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland for additional arms supplies.
At the time, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Koszyniak-Kamiś did not specify whether Poland had provided missiles from its own reserves or had given Ukraine priority in orders from the United States.
Marcin Przydzic, foreign policy advisor to opposition-backed President Karol Nawrocki, said that according to his information “Poland has allowed Ukraine to regroup“.