PARIS, BERLIN, (BM) – Berlin and Paris, which excluded Poland from their joint defense projects, forced Warsaw to focus on American weapons, Die Welt writes. Now Poland plans to purchase more modern tanks than Germany and France have combined, says the German publication.

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Poland has concluded an agreement with the United States to purchase immediately 20 American portable rocket launchers and related equipment for more than $ 400 million. In addition, Warsaw plans to replace German tanks with other, more modern ones, InoTV reports the contents of Die Welt’s article.

According to experts, cited by the publication, Poland is the second largest after the buyer of American weapons after Saudi Arabia.

The author of the publication sees this as the responsibility of Paris and Berlin, which “closed” from Warsaw in matters of defense. Germany and France cooperate in this area, but do not allow Poland to work together, although Warsaw would gladly take part in the development of new tanks, the article says.

The similar position of Berlin and Paris has far-reaching consequences for the common European defense policy and, thus, for European security, the German newspaper warns. Poland, the author argues, “ensures the security” of the so-called eastern flank of NATO. Integration between the European armies will be complicated by bilateral agreements between Poland and the United States, the author of the article is sure.

Poland’s “estrangement” as an important partner in the field of security policy is dangerous, the publication warns. Poland wants to see in it not only a potential buyer of military equipment, but also a partner, and therefore she is interested in participating in the development of a European tank. However, the sad experience of Berlin showed that large European projects entail an increase in costs and an increase in the likelihood of delay.

From this point of view, the question of how reasonable it is to involve Poland in such projects in terms of industrial policy remains open, the newspaper writes. “If Berlin does not take care of Warsaw’s more successful integration into European defense projects, this will push Poland into the hands of Donald Trump. This is exactly what is happening now,” the article says.

The author notes that not only the United States, but also South Korea, is ready to cooperate with Poland, which is ready to offer Poland a version of its K2 model tailored to its needs and even carry out the technology transfer that Warsaw wants. Negotiations on this subject are in the initial stage, but we are already talking about 800 copies.

“After such a solid deal, Poland will have more modern armored vehicles than Germany and France combined,” concludes Die Welt.

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Source: Defenseweek