Mariusz Błaszczak will begin his trip by visiting a Lockheed Martin missile factory in Camden, Arkansas, on Thursday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The Camden facility produces the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, which are due to be delivered to Poland later this year under a 2019 contract, officials said.
Talks at Pentagon
On Friday, the Polish defence minister will meet with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington to discuss Polish-American military cooperation, the security of NATO’s eastern flank and the American military presence in Poland, state news agency PAP reported.
Błaszczak and Austin are also expected to sign a bilateral agreement on “reciprocal defence procurement” and unveil a memorial wall at the Pentagon devoted to Polish-American cooperation, according to IAR.
Poland’s defence ministry noted in a statement on Wednesday that following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, the United States doubled its military presence in Poland to “more than 10,000 soldiers” as well as deploying two batteries of the Patriot air-defence system.
“It’s an expression of allied solidarity within NATO and the alliance’s mutual security guarantees,” it added.
Moreover, since 2020, the US Army V Corps’ Forward Command has been based in the western Polish city of Poznań, while in March this year, the first US Army garrison on NATO’s eastern flank was launched in Poland, the Polish defence ministry said.
Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa
While in the United States, the Polish defence minister will also visit Chicago to attend a Polish Constitution Day Parade, meet with the city’s Polish community and take part in events to mark 300 years since the creation of the Illinois National Guard.
In addition, Błaszczak will hold talks with representatives from America’s arms industry, the PAP news agency reported.
On Sunday, he will head to Toronto, Canada, to lay flowers at a memorial to the 1940 Katyn Massacre, at a plaque commemorating the 2010 Smolensk air disaster, and at a Polish military cemetery, according to officials.
On Monday, Błaszczak will meet with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand and the country’s lawmakers in Ottawa to discuss Polish-Canadian military cooperation, among other topics, the IAR news agency reported.
Thursday is day 435 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl