The Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Waterways Marek Gróbarczyk has criticized Poland's Defence Ministry's plan to buy from Australia used frigates for the Polish Navy.
"We disagree with the idea of acquiring second-hand Australian vessels and, thus, inhibiting the construction of new corvettes in the Polish shipyards under the Czapla and Miecznik programmes," the maritime economy minister told the Portal Stoczniowy ("Shipbuilding portal") website on Friday.
"We maintain a firm and unequivocal position that warships should be built in Poland," he stressed. In Gróbarczyk's opinion, the construction of new ships for the navy is one of the pillars of the entire shipbuilding industry in Poland.
Earlier on Friday, the head of the Polish President's Office, Krzysztof Szczerski said that President Andrzej Duda, during his upcoming visit to Australia, will be accompanied by a delegation of the Polish Defence Ministry. "We assume that the effect of the talks will be the signing a letter of intent to purchase Adelaide-type missile frigates, which would strengthen the Polish Navy," Szczerski said.
He highlighted that Polish-Australian military cooperation not only concerns frigates, but also "other areas that are important to us from the military point of view."
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Navy NewsStand