Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has pledged to accelerate a sweeping modernization of Poland’s military, a day after Russian drones violated the country’s airspace during an aerial assault on Ukraine.
The pledge underscores growing security concerns in Eastern Europe as Russia’s war nears its third year and questions mount over the Kremlin’s wider territorial ambitions.
Tusk addressed Polish troops at an air base in the central city of Lask, praising their quick action and that of NATO allied forces from the Netherlands that responded to the multiple Russian drone incursions.
He confirmed that Poland expects to receive its first F-35 fighter jets from the United States next year. Tusk added that it will be the first delivery of some of the 32 aircraft expected by 2030 as part of a support package finalized five years ago.
The jets are aimed at significantly strengthening Polish security and its NATO defense capabilities against regional threats.
“We will do everything to ensure that our allied obligations, which are so important from our point of view today, are fulfilled by our allies.
“We hope that the Americans will meet the deadlines. We would like the first batch of the F-35s to reach you in May, and so that we can speak of our air power with increasing confidence from month to month, and from year to year. And that Poland is truly safe from the sky.”
Donald Tusk
European officials described Wednesday’s incursion as a deliberate provocation, forcing the NATO alliance to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time.
It deepened longstanding fears that the three-year war between Poland’s neighbors could precipitate a wider conflict. US-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to get traction.
The Polish Air Navigation Agency announced this morning that Poland was introducing air traffic restrictions in the eastern part of the country. It said that the step was taken at the request of the Polish army for national security reasons but did not elaborate.
Poland disclosed that some of the drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday came from Belarus, where Russian and local troops have begun gathering for war games scheduled to start Friday. Poland is closing its border with Belarus at midnight today, a planned move also associated with the military exercises.
Polish President, Karol Nawrocki also visited a military air base in Poznan-Krzesiny, in western Poland, today, striking a defiant tone in a statement that said Poland “doesn’t get scared by Russian drones.”
Nawrocki described the incursion as “an attempt to test our abilities, the ability to react.”
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that it had nothing to add to a Wednesday statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry, which insisted that Russian forces had not targeted Poland and that it was open to discuss the incident with Polish officials. It also dismissed talk of the incursion being a provocation.
“The statements we hear from Warsaw: well, they’re nothing new. This rhetoric is typical of almost all European capitals.”
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov
Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale in Poland or anywhere else in NATO territory.
Tusk Cautions Citizens Not To Fall For Moscow ‘s Disinformation Campaigns
Separately, Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk warned Poles in an X post not to fall for Moscow’s disinformation campaigns and urged them also not to spread them further.
“Spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation in the current situation is an action detrimental to the Polish state, directly aimed at the security of the fatherland and its citizens.”
Donald Tusk
He added that stupidity and certain political views should not be treated as “mitigating circumstances” for these actions.
The Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs has also warned of disinformation on the internet and published a list on Wednesday of narratives being spread by Russian and Belarusian sources.
These include the claim that Ukraine wants to drag EU and NATO member Poland into war with Russia and therefore sent the drones to its neighbour.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs also stated that the claim that Poland is completely helpless against the drones is Russian propaganda and serves to spread panic.
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