Polish Dispute Over Patriot Deliveries to Ukraine

Background: Patriot Systems and Munitions Shortage

The foreign policy advisor to the right-wing president, Karol Nawrocki, Marcin Przydacz, also voiced sharp criticism. According to his information, Poland had been further ahead in the order queue, with Ukraine behind it. "Wir standen weiter vorn in der Reihe, die Ukrainer waren hinter uns, und die Regierung hat der Ukraine ihren Platz überlassen, so dass die Polen länger warten müssen." Nawrocki had succeeded Andrzej Duda as president in summer 2025.

Kosiniak-Kamysz rejected the accusations, writing on the platform X that the presidents—first Duda, now Nawrocki—had always been informed. At the same time, he announced that he wanted to publicly disclose, together with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, all military aid to Ukraine since 2022. Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk told the PAP news agency that the list of deliveries to Ukraine was classified.

The background to the conflict is Ukraine's precarious air defense situation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had complained in spring 2025 that his country was running low on air defense munitions. Patriot systems are considered the only effective means against Russian ballistic missiles. At a Ramstein meeting of Ukraine's supporters in April 2025, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland for additional munitions.

Domestic Political Dispute in Poland

Already in March 2025, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), together with other European states, had attempted to procure just over 30 of the coveted missiles. The US war effort against Iran has further depleted global stocks of the interceptors, dpa sources report. According to Madrid, Spain is also among the supplying countries.

The relationship between the allies Poland and Ukraine is already strained by a dispute over the history of World War II. Now the Patriot conflict has been added. The PiS and other right-wing opposition parties are trying to pressure the government with accusations of appeasement toward Kyiv.

The government faces the challenge of, on the one hand, maintaining alliance solidarity with Ukraine and, on the other, not jeopardizing its own defense capability. Kosiniak-Kamysz's announcement to disclose all aid deliveries since 2022 is likely to further inflame the conflict—especially if it turns out that Poland has drawn on its own stocks to support Kyiv.

Implications for European Security Policy

Regardless of the outcome of the domestic debate, the dispute underscores the scarcity of PAC-3 munitions in Europe. With the United States additionally tied down by the conflict with Iran, pressure is mounting on European alliance partners to expand their own capacities or reorganize supply chains.

The opposition has already announced that it will raise the matter in parliament. Should it be confirmed that Poland has given up its own missiles, this could further intensify the debate over the modernization of the Polish armed forces—and raise the question of how far solidarity with Kyiv may go when one's own security is at stake.

The conflict is part of a growing series of stress tests within the Western coalition supporting Ukraine. While Washington increasingly turns its attention to Asia and the Middle East, European capitals must decide which risks they are willing to take for Kyiv—and which they can justify to their own populations.