US charge d’affaires praises alliance with Poland

Bix Aliu, the US embassy's charge d'affaires, has praised the US-Polish alliance after the Polish defence minister met with his US counterpart in Washington on Wednesday.

"The United States is proud that we are close allies with Poland and that our soldiers are serving arm in arm," Bix Aliu wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

On Wednesday Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak held talks with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin during which the two discussed the purchase of 250 US-made Abrams tanks by Poland.

Aliu also shared the US defence secretary's tweet, in which Austin said "We discussed ways to strengthen the U.S.-Polish defense relationship to further enhance the security of the @NATO alliance. #WeAreNATO."

After the meeting with Austin, Blaszczak said that the US secretary of defence would be coming to Poland at the end of October to iron out the details of the Abrams tank purchase.

"Everything indicates that the first Abrams tanks will be in use by the Polish Army next year," he said.

In mid-July Poland announced it would purchase 250 of the latest US-produced Abrams tanks. The tanks are to be stationed in the eastern part of the country.

The government programme for purchase of the tanks along with a logistics and training package amounts to PLN 23.3 billion (EUR 5.1 billion).