Mariusz Błaszczak made the statement after an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Stockholm, Sweden, on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The two-day get-together focused on the European bloc’s continued military support for Ukraine, including the training of Ukrainian soldiers under the EU’s military assistance mission for Ukraine (EUMAM) and the financing of purchases of ammunition for Ukraine, according to officials.
‘Speed and scale of military support to Ukraine should be maintained’
Błaszczak, who also serves as a Polish deputy prime minister, told reporters afterwards: “We have agreed that the scale and speed of military support should be maintained.”
Błaszczak said he and his EU counterparts had also discussed “the issue of our solidarity as regards reimbursements” for military equipment transferred by member countries to Ukraine.
He added: “It’s vitally important that the scale of these reimbursements be specified in detail. This undoubtedly encourages EU countries to make donations to Ukraine.”
Maintenance and spare parts for Leopard tanks
Another subject was “the removal of industrial barriers” to maintaining the performance of tanks being sent to Ukraine, a topic Błaszczak also discussed at a bilateral meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, the PAP news agency reported.
Błaszczak confirmed that Poland planned to set up a maintenance hub in the southern Polish city of Gliwice for Leopard 2A4 tanks, one of two types of the German-made tanks being transferred to Ukraine.
“I discussed this issue also with defence ministers from countries making up our coalition of donors of Leopard tanks to Ukraine,” he said.
Błaszczak said he had talked about “the need to ensure the supply of spare parts” with Margarita Robles Fernandez, the defence minister of Spain, one of the countries that had pledged to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2A4 tanks.
The Polish defence minister argued that Germany “should restart” the production of spare parts for Leopard 2A4 tanks after it was halted 20 years ago.
He told reporters: “We are conducting dialogue with the German side ... It’s important because we plan to create a maintenance hub for the Leopard tanks provided to Ukraine.”
He added: “For this hub to work, we need spare parts. And so we are in contact, we are conducting dialogue and I hope this process will have a successful conclusion.”
Training of Ukrainian troops, joint ammunition purchases for Ukraine
The EU defence ministers meeting in Stockholm also discussed the training of Ukrainian soldiers, including on Leopard tanks as part of the EUMAM initiative, officials said.
One of the mission’s two operational command centres, known as Combined Arms Training Command (CAT-C), is based in the western Polish town of Żagań, the PAP news agency reported.
Błaszczak told reporters: “We talked about the new initiative to join forces in ordering and transferring ammunition for Ukraine.”
He revealed that the plan would cover both "Western-style 120mm tank shells and 155mm artillery shells, as well as the 152mm shells used in Soviet weapons."
Possible EU funding for Polish arms industry
Błaszczak announced that the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, would visit Poland "as part of his responsibilities regarding the bloc’s defence industry."
The Polish defence minister told the media: “We discussed funding for the arms industry, among other topics. I agreed with Commissioner Breton that he would visit Poland shortly and together we’ll sit down for talks with Polish arms makers about making use of EU support to boost the Polish arms industry when it comes to the production of ammunition.”
Wednesday was day 378 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, wpolityce.pl