EU country wants depleted uranium factory – PM

Mateusz Morawiecki wants to manufacture toxic tank ammunition in Poland

Poland wants to be the service center for all US M1 Abrams tanks in Europe and even manufacture depleted uranium (DU) ammunition for its weapons, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday.

After meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Tuesday, Morawiecki traveled to Anniston, Alabama. The community of about 20,000 residents is home to the US Army depot that services all tracked vehicles, including Abrams tanks.

“I want a service center for Abrams tanks for all of Europe, to maintain their readiness for battle, to be located in Poland,” Morawiecki told Polish reporters who followed him to Anniston. “That’s possible, I’m in talks about that.”

Poland is also “striving” to have a factory where DU ammunition can be produced, he added.

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Dense metal is used by US and UK tankers as an armor-piercing round. Its residue is highly toxic when inhaled, and numerous NATO troops have complained of increased cancer rates after spending time in places where DU munitions have been used, such as Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.

After meeting with Harris on Tuesday, Morawiecki told Polish media that he requested an “additional presence of several thousand troops” as well as more bases and warehouses for sending US equipment and weapons to Ukraine. Poland is currently a logistics hub for NATO’s effort to arm Kiev, although the US-led bloc insists it is not directly involved in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.

Warsaw has sought a permanent presence in the United States for years, trying to woo President Donald Trump in 2018 with an offer to name a base with him.

Poland has ordered 250 new Abrams tanks and another 116 modernized ones, to replace almost all of its Soviet-era T-72s it had delivered to Ukraine. The first 14 tanks are expected to arrive in June, said Morawiecki, who described them as an “armored curtain” that will protect his country.

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Polish media have also shed light on Morawiecki’s puzzling presence in the US while President Joe Biden is out of the country. The visit, according to the Interia news portal, was “suddenly accelerated” by the Americans as a counterpoint to French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to China last week.

Morawiecki’s trip “is gaining even more importance” following Macron’s comments that the EU will not be a “vassal” of Washington when it comes to confronting China over Taiwan’s status, the outlet said.

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