Donald Tusk says he wants Poland to join the European Sky Shield initiative after President Andrzej Duda downplayed the idea.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said he wants to join the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), contradicting an earlier statement by President Andrzej Duda, media report.
The idea of a European missile shield was presented in late August 2022 in Poland by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Twenty-one countries have declared their participation. In February, Turkey and Greece declared their participation in the programme.
The air defence system currently being prepared by Poland consists mainly of medium- and short-range systems, while the European Sky Shield also involves the purchase of long-range systems.
Earlier on Tuesday, Duda criticised the programme and called it a "German business project".
The head of the presidential National Security Bureau, Jacek Siviera, said "it is impossible to build a European dome without radar components on NATO's eastern flank."
Poland did not initially join the European programme. The deputy minister of national defence in the previous Law and Justice (PiS)-led government, Wojciech Skurkiewicz, argued that Poland's missile defence should be based primarily on Narew systems, short-range anti-aircraft missile complexes; and Wisla, based on Patriot systems with PAC-3 MSE missiles from the US company Lockheed Martin.
The conflict between the Tusk-led government and the PiS-allied president has been a feature of Polish politics since last autumn's elections.
Tusk's government has said it wants to be a key part of developing an independent European military capability following the US foot-dragging on aid to Ukraine and the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US election later this year, which some say could undermine NATO unity. / BGNES
