The German defense minister arrived on Monday in the southeastern Polish town of Zamosc, where some 320 German troops have been stationed since January.
The deployment — near Poland’s border with Ukraine — has previously been a source of diplomatic wrangling between the two countries.
What’s planned for the visit?
Pistorius visited the barracks where German forces operate three Patriot missile air defense systems at two separate locations.
He met his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak, before visiting the positions outside the city from where the missiles would be fired.
During the visit, Pistorius pushed for negotiations on the establishment of a maintenance hub in Poland, to repair Leopard tanks damaged in Ukraine, to be finished within the next 10 days.
The Patriot system uses surface-to-air missiles manufactured by the US company Raytheon and Lockheed to counter threats from the air.
The US State Department says the Patriot is capable of “bringing down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and aircraft at a significantly higher ceiling than previously provided air defense systems.”
Political tussle over missiles’ location
There was a political squabble between Germany and Poland over the deployment of the Patriots on Polish soil, something that Warsaw had requested.
Former German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht agreed to move the Patriots after a missile strike that hit Polish territory in November.
In a twist that irritated Berlin, Blaszczak suggested that Germany ought to instead station the Patriots in Ukraine.
After a period of tensions between the two governments, Warsaw finally said it would accept them.
Germany is set to move Patriot units from Slovakia, as well as some “supporting elements” from Poland, to Lithuania ahead of a July NATO summit in that country’s capital, Vilnius.
