Poland rejects sending Patriot batteries to Mideast despite US request

WARSAW

Poland will not send any of its Patriot air-defense batteries to the Middle East, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Tuesday, after reports that the United States had informally asked Warsaw to consider doing so.

Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Tuesday that Washington had unofficially sounded out Poland about deploying one of its two Patriot batteries amid the escalating conflict with Iran and rising missile attacks on US forces and allies in the region.

Kosiniak-Kamysz quickly rejected the idea, writing on X that Poland’s Patriots “serve to protect Polish skies and NATO’s eastern flank.”

“Nothing is changing in this regard, and we are not planning to relocate them anywhere,” he wrote. “Our allies understand perfectly well how important the tasks we have here are. Poland’s security is an absolute priority.”

The ministry also denied suggestions that the United States had pressured Warsaw. Janusz Sejmej, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, told Rzeczpospolita, “The Americans are not pressuring us in any way on these matters.”

Poland’s chief of the general staff, Wieslaw Kukula, also dismissed the reports, writing on X that “no one is asking for it.”

Poland currently has two operational Patriot batteries, both reaching full operational readiness at the end of 2025 after integration into the Wisla air-defense system and the US-made IBCS command network.

Based with the 37th Air Defense Missile Squadron in Sochaczew, the batteries can intercept aircraft and missiles at distances up to 100 kilometers.

Warsaw has long argued that, as NATO’s main eastern-flank state bordering Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, it cannot afford to weaken its own air-defense capability.

Kosiniak-Kamysz made a similar point last year when reports emerged that American Patriots protecting the Rzeszow logistics hub could be moved elsewhere, insisting that “Polish Patriots also remain in Poland.”

The issue highlights growing global pressure on Patriot systems as the conflict with Iran intensifies. Poland has ordered six additional batteries, due to be delivered between 2027 and 2029, but there are concerns the Middle East war could delay missile deliveries because of sharply rising demand from the US and Gulf states.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also ruled out Polish military involvement in the conflict, saying previously that Poland would not send troops to Iran.