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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that Russia’s drone violation of his country’s airspace on Wednesday posed a threat not just to Poland but to wider Europe.
“This drone attack was not aimed only at Poland, but at European states as well,” Tusk said on Thursday.
Other European countries have expressed alarm over the incident, which involved 19 Russian drones entering Polish territory, some of which were shot down.
Poland’s prime minister confirmed that Polish military officials would travel to Ukraine for aerial defence training following the Russian attack.
His country would gain from Ukraine’s experience in anti-drone systems, Tusk said, defining them “as the best” due to their “battlefield” testing.
Speaking after an emergency National Security Council meeting called by President Karol Nawrocki, Tusk said the talks also covered Russian propaganda and its effects on Poland’s internal affairs.
Russia continues to deny any connection to the drone incursion, claiming that they had come from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that the violation could “have been a mistake.”
However, Tusk rejected any claims that Kyiv was behind the operation as disinformation.
“The information gathered by Poland clearly indicates that the Russian Federation bears full responsibility for the violation of Polish airspace,” he said.
Karolina Gałecka, spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, reported that a drone had been found in Przymiarki in the Księżopol municipality of the Biłgoraj district.
This marks another unmanned aerial vehicle discovered since Wednesday’s breach of Polish airspace.
According to a report by the German newspaper Welt, citing sources within Polish services and NATO, five Russian drones deliberately flew directly towards a NATO base in Poland, a key transit point for military equipment destined for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, European leaders continue to show their support for Poland. French President Emmanuel Macron stated on social media X that France would send three Rafale fighter jets to help protect Poland’s airspace.
On Friday, the outgoing French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told a local radio that the Russian ambassador to France has been called to the Quai d’Orsay on Friday morning.
Later on Friday, the UN Security Council will hold another emergency meeting at Poland’s request on the drone incursion.
Video editor • Lucy Davalou