Last week we witnessed some disagreements among the allies of NATO regarding the scenario in Ukraine, especially the involvement of Poland and the USA and their lack of confidence in supplying fighter jets to Ukraine.
To improve relations, USA vice president Kamala Harris went to Warsaw and on Thursday announced that her country had deployed an additional 4,700 troops and delivered two Patriot missile defence systems to Poland.
Poland, a NATO member amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has become a significant territory between the West and Ukraine. Poland serves as a strategic staging area for several nations, including the United States, to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Poland has also welcomed thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country, but its proximity to Ukraine as well as Russia’s growing tensions with NATO have also stoked fears of the war spilling over into Poland.
On Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of Poland’s membership in the alliance, stated that they had more than doubled their military presence in the country in recent weeks.
What’s special about this missile system?
The USA has deployed two Patriot missile defence systems to Poland. The name Patriot here refers to a “mobile air and missile defence system” that counters missile and aircraft threats.
Among other components, it comes equipped with C-band phased-array radars to detect incoming missiles with a mix of PAC-3 hit-to-kill missiles (Patriot Advanced Capability) and PAC-2 blast fragmentation warhead missiles to destroy threats.
He also asserted, “This is a clear message that NATO allies stand together.” We will protect Poland and defend every inch of allied territory. Its latest variant, MSE (Missile Segment Enhancement), has a “larger range and lethality”.
According to a 2019 report by the US Department of Defense, the Patriots were first deployed in 1982 and, back in 2003, they went on to be a part of the US defence in the operation “Iraqi Freedom.”
Countries like the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia have acquired Patriot missile defence systems.
Why did the US increase its military presence in Poland?
Historically, Poland was under Soviet control for years until the end of World War 1. However, during WW2, Poland was again caught between the invading armies of Nazi Germany and Russia, who then divided the territory among themselves.
It was only in 1991 that Poland saw its first parliamentary elections, which led Soviet troops to leave their territory.
Polish leaders fear that President Putin may escalate the war and invade their territory because Poland has been facing the heat indirectly from Russia through its military presence in Belarus, with which Warsaw has a strained relationship.
Adding oil to the already burning flame, Poland called for sanctions against Belarus back in 2020 when Alexander Lukashenko came to power. Along with that, Poland has also blamed Lukashenko for creating a migrant crisis at its border and using them as pawns to secure the easing of sanctions imposed on him.
Last month, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda warned that Russian troops in Belarus were a threat to Poland and other Baltic states.
This was accompanied by Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau’s calling on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to increase the number of NATO troops and deploy NATO troops in the very face of a threat.
This resulted in making Poland a strategic location, which USA Pentagon officials confirmed by moving military stockpiles from Germany to Poland and Romania, to eventually land in Ukraine, which was welcomed by Polish President Andrzej Duda.
However, the supply of military aid from Ukraine is construed as an individual effort by countries, several of them allied to NATO, and not as a formal operation by the alliance.
Published by – Kiruthiga K
Edited by – Kritika Kashyap
