Air defence missile base to be opened in Poland soon

Ulyana Krychkovska, Roman Petrenko — Sunday, 13 October 2024, 08:43

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has announced that the country will soon open an air defence missile base and expressed hope that it will also shoot down Russian missiles flying towards Poland.

Source: Polish radio station Radio Rebeliant; European Pravda

Details: Following the July NATO summit in Washington, it was announced that the new US missile defence facility in Redzikowo, Poland, is now operational and prepared to defend the Alliance.

"We'll open an air defence missile base in Redzikowo near Puck in the coming weeks. This is the base we have agreed upon with the United States," Sikorski noted.

The minister added that Warsaw was also in talks with the US to ensure that its missile defence systems could shoot down Russian missiles flying towards Poland, not just Iranian missiles "flying towards the US".

It is unknown, however, whether Poland has received a response to this request.

Sikorski pointed out that critics have accused Poland of "derailing the base project." However, the minister emphasised that the facility has been constructed and will be officially inaugurated "very soon."

Notably, the village of Redzikowo is located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, 4 km from Słupsk and 150 km from Gdańsk.

Background:

The US missile defence base in Redzikowo was commissioned by NATO in July 2024. As a component of NATO's comprehensive missile defence shield, it is designed to detect, track, and intercept ballistic missiles. The facility is purely defensive and is staffed by approximately 200 personnel.
After a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine on the morning of 26 August, Poland reported a violation of its airspace by an "airborne object", likely a Shahed loitering munition.
Afterwards, Sikorski stated in an interview with the Financial Times that Poland should intercept Russian missiles that could breach Polish airspace while still over Ukraine. He argued that shooting them down over Polish territory would increase the risks to Polish citizens.
At the time, Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Paweł Wroński pointed out that Sikorski's remarks did not reflect the position of the Polish government. In turn, the North Atlantic Alliance stated that such actions could have consequences for the whole of NATO.

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