/GERMANY: Duda Steps In Amid Tensions Over German Missile System Offer

There is no final decision regarding Germany's offer to relocate a Patriot missile system to Poland, Deputy Foreign Minister Przydacz told Polsat News on Thursday, adding that President Andrzej Duda looks to play a more active role in the negotiations.

• Germany offered to station surface-to-air Patriots in Poland after a missile strike related to the ongoing war in Ukraine killed two civilians in a village near the border. Poland's Defence Minister Blaszczak responded by calling on Germany to send the missile system to Ukraine instead, so that it can be stationed near the border with Poland.
• Germany pushed back against the proposal, noting that Patriots could not be stationed outside of NATO territory without the consent of member states. Berlin's ambassador to Poland told Rzeczpospolita that Poland's response was "hard to comprehend." The system would have to be operated by German troops and sending them to Ukraine is not realistic.
• The Presidential Palace stepped in this morning, looking to soothe tensions over Blaszczak's comments, as Duda's chief aide told a radio station that the German missile system should be stationed in Poland.