On 20 August, the dispute over further Patriot missiles for Ukraine came back: Donald Tusk's government is considering the transfer, and the opposition calls for the detention of resources in the country. Today, the Patriot strategy protects the Orlen refinery in Płock. The stakes are simple: the safety of the Polish sky, portfolios and critical infrastructure.
Government's looking at warehouses again
The Patriot dispute is not a method argument over 1 kind of ammunition. It is simply a question of whether the Polish state should first safe its own heaven or conduct a policy of gestures towards Kiev. According to Radio Maryja, the opposition calls for the government not to pass on further missiles to Ukraine, due to the fact that they are hard to capture, and the Patriot strategy presently protects the Orlen refinery in Płock.
The government argues that all donation is analysed by the military. That's not enough. Poles have the right to know whether decisions about the most costly and the most scarce ammunition are made after cold calculation of national interest, or under force from allied requests, media emotions and subsequent appeals of president Volodymyr Zelenski. In the background there is besides a broader problem, which we wrote about in the text, that Poland cannot act under the force of Zelenski.
Płock shows real stakes
Płock is not a random point on the map. It is 1 of the nerves of the Polish economy, energy and everyday safety of citizens. Hitting fuel infrastructure would mean not an abstract crisis, but problem with distributors, force on prices, disruption in logistics and political chaos. That's why all interceptor missile, all launch bay and all air defence call has a national dimension.
MON itself in a communication dated 20 August after the conference in Płocki Radzidziu acknowledged that Poland was only building multi-layered air defence. The hotel lists Vistula, Narew, Pilica, Pilica+ and the anti-drone system, but at the same time Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz straight says that not all items have been delivered. This conviction should close the mouth of all those who talk besides lightly about giving up more resources.
The erstwhile donation has already raised questions
On 6 July, MON informed that the full cost of Polish donations for Ukraine was PLN 16.45 billion, of which PLN 1.55 billion was allocated to the years 2024-2026. In the same communication, the ministry confirmed that Poland belongs to a group of six Patriot users with PAC-3 missiles in NATO, and the decision to donate missiles was taken after an allied consultation. MON assured that the quantity transferred constitutes a margin of capacity and does not affect the air defence of Poland, which is due to Official Communication of the Defence Ministry.
Such assurances must be read carefully. If something is simply a margin, then the government should give the logic of this margin: how much remains, erstwhile the next deliveries come, what objects are protected and who bears political work for the risks. A serious state does not ask citizens to take their word for it. Especially erstwhile it comes to missiles that can't be bought the next day like ammunition in a warehouse.
Tusk considers, Poles are to ask
Donald Tusk on July 30 did not regulation out further transfer of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. As reported by Defence24, the Prime Minister spoke after an incidental with a Russian rocket in Lublin that Poland's safety depends on the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defence. That's actual in a general sense. Russia is the enemy, and Ukraine is fighting Russian aggression. But this fact does not automatically consequence in consent to the depletion of Polish resources.
Helping Ukraine makes sense erstwhile it is part of the Polish strategy, not a reflex of diplomatic correctness. In winter Kiev will request a defence against Russian rockets, as we wrote in the analysis that Ukraine without missiles to the Patriots will be brutally tested by winter. However, Poland cannot be a country that gives back its most precious abilities and then explains to citizens that allies have promised something.
First the Polish shield
National realism does not mean indifference to war in Ukraine. It means sober hierarchy. First, the safety of Poles, Polish cities, industrial plants, borders and critical infrastructure. Then gestures, coalitions and political photos after conferences.
That is why the present dispute is so important. If the government wants to surrender further Patriot missiles, it should show the Sejm and the public the political minimum: why, under what conditions, with what compensation and without any prejudice to Poland. A communication on air defence is not enough. We request responsibility.
The right should not be closed in a false alternative: either unconditional donation of resources or pro-Russian indifference. It's manipulation. Poland is meant to aid it not to become weaker. all another logic is simply a game of national security.
Source: Radio Maryja, MON, Defence24, Fact.
Source: Radio Maryja
