President Karol Nawrocki’s direct relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump was very helpful in the decision to establish a PAC-3 missile service center in Poland, Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said. He stressed that the investment is a success for Poland. He also thanked, among others, the U.S. ambassador to Poland.
Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka announced Tuesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels that Poland will host the only service center for PAC-3 missiles used in Patriot systems outside the United States.
Asked at a news conference Wednesday at the Maskpol plant in Konieczki (Silesian Voivodeship) about the significance of the center being built in Poland, Tomczyk said that “propaganda” coming from the Law and Justice (PiS) party, claiming the Polish government has poor relations with the United States, has proved to be untrue.
“In my view, the service center in Poland is of fundamental importance, and I think even the public does not yet realize how significant this decision is, because it identifies Poland as a long-term partner for the most important American weaponry, that is, the system for countering ballistic missiles and for missile defense across all of Europe,” the deputy defense minister said.
He stressed that President Trump played a huge role in choosing Poland as a partner in the project, because the decision was made at the level of the American government. The deputy minister also thanked U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno and U.S. Ambassador to Poland Thomas Rose, who, Tomczyk said, is also “a very good ambassador of Poland in the United States.”
Asked whether he had the impression that President Nawrocki’s circle was crediting only him for the creation of the center in Poland, the deputy defense minister said he had a message for the ministers in the Chancellery of the President. “The service center for the Patriots is a success for Poland, for the whole country,” he said. He added that both Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Nawrocki contributed to that success.
Tomczyk said he is rooting very much for the relationship between President Nawrocki and President Trump. “And I expect the same from the Chancellery of the President, that it will support the government in the difficult talks concerning both the stationing of American troops and the building of a system and an industry in Poland,” he said.
The deputy defense minister noted that President Nawrocki’s relationship with President Trump was “very helpful” on the PAC-3 service center issue, and said he would like to thank the president for his involvement in the process.
Bartosz Grodecki, head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), wrote on X on Tuesday that “thanks to the conversation between President Karol Nawrocki and President Donald Trump, a European service center for PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems will be built in Poland.” He added that “the presidents discussed this project on the sidelines of the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly.”
Tomczyk was also asked how it feels to be the “Polish Rambo,” a reference to a term used by the U.S. ambassador to Poland. The deputy defense minister said John Rambo is one of his favorite film characters.
He stressed that he greatly values his conversations with Ambassador Rose. He said that when Rose was appointed U.S. ambassador to Poland, it was unclear how relations with him would develop, but “today he believes the U.S. ambassador to Poland has done a great deal” to build Polish-American relations.
In a statement published Tuesday evening about the decision to establish a service center in Poland for missiles used in Patriot batteries, Ambassador Rose thanked, among others, Cezary Tomczyk, whom he called “a wonderful Polish Rambo,” for his involvement in the process.
“Let’s just do our job. I think that’s the most important thing, and Rambo always fought for good things,” Tomczyk said. (PAP)
