A new defence agreement to be signed this year between Poland and Germany is designed to facilitate the stationing of German armed forces on Polish territory.
According to Polish Government sources, the agreement is to establish “a framework for the presence of German troops and equipment in Poland”. The first visible sign of the arrangements will come in the spring when German soldiers will assist in the construction of the “Eastern Shield” along Poland’s eastern border.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking after a European summit on Ukraine held in Paris on January 6, said: “Germany is ready to take part militarily in monitoring a ceasefire in Ukraine. This could mean that after a ceasefire, Germany’s military could support Ukraine by operating from neighbouring NATO territory.”
The only country with a large border with Ukraine, which is part of the “coalition of the willing”, is Poland.
Work on the Polish-German agreement started after a meeting of Polish and German defence ministers on December 1, 2025.
According to Poland’s defence ministry (MON), the existing defence agreement of 2011 between the two countries needs updating because of “the altered security situation in Europe; particularly on NATO’s eastern flank and in the Baltic Sea region, the implementation of military co-operation in new areas stemming from challenges related to hybrid threats, and the dynamic development of new technologies and weapons systems”.
The 2011 agreement covers ministerial meetings, exchange visits of civilian personnel, events focusing on the transfer of experience, training, research and the repair and modernisation of weapons and equipment.
There have also been joint military exercises, the use of military training grounds and co-operation over the two countries’ activities in international organisations.
Ad hoc co-operation on NATO’s eastern flank has also taken place between the two countries with regard to the location of German Patriot missile defence systems in eastern Poland between 2024 and 2025. That was in addition to the presence of alert rotation Eurofighter jets stationed in northern Poland, also under NATO auspice patrolling airspace near Poland’s border with Russia’s Kaliningrad region.
There have not, as yet though, been any German military bases in Poland or large numbers of Germany’s armed forces on Polish soil.
In the past Polish politicians, such as the leader of the opposition Conservatives (PiS) Jarosław Kaczyński, have said “given the history between the two nations it would be hard to envisage German troops being stationed on Polish soil”.
That was before full-scale war broke out in Ukraine. As recently as last year, though, former PiS prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned: “Germany becoming a military power may hold dangers for Poland.”
Attitudes towards Germany are one of the main differences in Polish politics between the Left and the Right. The liberals, such as current Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Left, have been accommodating to Germany within the European Union whereas the Polish Right has been suspicious of German power and its motives.
The previous PiS government’s relations with Germany were tense, with serious disagreements about Germany’s pursuit of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project with Russia, migration and environmental policies.
These tensions increased still further in 2022 when the PiS government filed a $1.3 trillion (€1.11 trillion) reparations claim for damages Poland suffered at the hand of Germany during the Second World War.
