On April 17, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Poland would join the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) during a cabinet meeting of the Polish government, according to Defense News.
The Polish Prime Minister also said that it does not bother him “that the Germans were the main initiators of this initiative” according to Defense News.
The ESSI was announced by the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in August 2022. According to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the ESSI “aims to create a European air and missile defense system through the common acquisition of air defense equipment and missiles by European nations”.
Recently, the relations between the German and Polish governments have been tense. Issues with illegal immigration from Poland into Germany, and Germany’s response to the war in Ukraine, has prompted a diplomatic row between both nations, according to Politico.
